in 

'    "•'*."    •"-: 

SB  ;  •    I 


:'  m  - 


UCSB    LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 


MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN 


'DO   GOOD   BY    STE/i 


PHILADELPHIA: 

PRIVATELY     PRINTED 
1867. 


COLLINS,    PRINTER, 
705     JAYNE    ST. 


CONTENTS. 


A  Sketch  of  the  Life,  Mechanical  Enterprise,  and 
Christian  Beneficence  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin.  By 
Rev.  WOLCOTT  CALKINS. 

His  Childhood        .          .          .          .          .          .          .  12 

Apprentice  and  Journeyman     .                    .          .          .  16 

His  Change  of  Occupation       .          .          .          .          .  21 

Bookbinders'  Tools  and  Calico  Machines           .          .  25 

Stationary  Steam  Engines          .          .          .          .          .  32 

The  Great  Change          .          .          .          .          .          .  37 

Locomotive  Building        ......  46 

Systematic  Beneficence 60 

The  Great  Financial  Crisis 71 

The  Constitutional  Convention  and  the  Anti-Slavery 

Excitement          .......  84 

Locomotives  for  heavy  freights          ....  99 

Church  Building     .          .          .         .          .          .          .114 

His  Last  Years        .          .          .          .          .          .          .140 

His  Sickness  and  Death 162 

A  Sermon,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Baldwin, 
preached  September  Qth,  1866,  in  St.  Mark's  Church, 
Frankford,  by  Rev.  DANIEL  S.  MILLER,  D.  D., 

Rector      .........  167 


vi  CONTENTS. 

Obituary  Notice  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  from  the  North 
American  and  United  States  Gazette  of  September 
i4th,  1866.  By  Hon.  JOSEPH  R.  CHANDLER  179 

Memorial  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  read  before  the  American 

Philosophical  Society  December  yth,  1866        .         .        19$ 

Resolutions  on  the  Death  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin. 

Of  the  Employees  of  the  Works  of  M.  W.  Baldwin 

&  Co ...        219 

Of  the  Foremen  of  the  Works  of  M.  W.  Baldwin 

&   Co.  .  .         '     .  .  •  •  •  •  221 

Of   the    Board    of  Inspectors    of   the    Philadelphia 

County  Prison    .          .          .          .          •          •          .222 

Of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Franklin  Institute  224 
Of  the   Board  of  Trustees   of  Olivet    Presbyterian 

Church      .          .          .                             :          .         ..  226 
Of    the    Executive    Committee    of    the    Ministerial 

Relief  Fund 228 

Of  the  Pennsylvania  Horticultural  Society         .          .  229 

Of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  Horticultural  Hall        .  231 

Of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts          .  232 

Of  Calvary  Church  Session 233 

Of  Calvary  Church  Sunday  School  .         .         .234 

Of  the  Trustees  of  the  Presbyterian  House      .         .  237 


MEMORIAL. 


MEMORIAL. 


IT  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  this  volume  to 
perpetuate  the  painful  recollections  of  a  bereave- 
ment already  severely  deplored.  We  may  leave 
to  the  unbelieving  world  that  long  bewildered 
anguish  for  the  departed  which  receives  no  conso- 
lation from  religion.  This  life  is  their  only  life; 
as  its  loss  is  irreparable,  their  mourning  for  death 
may  well  be  without  bounds ;  as  they  have  no 
hope  beyond  the  grave,  time  may  obliterate,  but 
can  never  relieve  their  desolation.  But  to  the 
Christian  there  is  not  only  a  time  to  weep,  but  a 
measure  to  tears.  To  restrain  the  first  impulses  of 
grief  for  such  a  loss  as  we  have  suffered  would  be 
doing  violence  to  our  nature;  but  to  cherish  these 
feelings  for  the  sake  of  that  mysterious  luxury 
which  despondency  affords,  would  be  a  denial  of 
the  sublimest  truths  of  our  religion.  The  same 
graces  of  character  which  cause  us  to  regret  the 
2 


10  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

death  of  the  righteous  invite  us  to  rejoice  in 
their  felicity,  and  hope  for  their  resurrection 
and  life  everlasting. 

Nor  does  it  enter  into  the  design  of  this  me- 
morial to  compose  a  worthy  eulogy  of  the  cha- 
racter of  our  departed  friend.  He  needs  no 
words  of  praise.  The  grateful  recollections  of 
thousands  whom  he  has  benefited,  and  the  en- 
during monuments  of  his  beneficence  which 
adorn  the  city  where  he  spent  his  life,  constitute 
his  best  eulogy.  And  besides,  it  is  in  vain  that 
we  attempt  to  honor  the  memory  of  the  depart- 
ed, if  we  do  not  calmly  consider  and  firmly  fol- 
low the  Christian  graces  which  have  adorned 
their  conversation  in  this  world,  and  cheered 
their  entrance  to  the  next  with  the  hopes  of  an 
inheritance  incorruptible,  undefiled,  that  fadeth 
not  away. 

But  it  is  believed  that  there  are  materials  for 
thoughtful  study  in  the  life  of  a  man  who  has 
risen  to  be  the  head  of  one  of  the  largest  manu- 
facturing establishments  in  the  country;  who  is 
indebted  for  his  success  neither  to  artifice  nor 
fortune,  but  to  his  own  exertions  alone;  who 
has  never  violated  a  principle  of  honor  nor  com- 
promised a  precept  of  religion  in  any  business 


LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN.  I  I 

transaction;  who  has  not  suffered  his  own  preju- 
dices nor  his  interests  to  turn  him  aside  from 
the  path  of  rectitude;  who  has  served  the  city 
and  the  State  and  the  Church  in  positions  of 
immense  responsibility,  and  in  times  of  perilous 
excitement,  and  always  in  defence  of  right  prin- 
ciples, at  personal  sacrifice ;  who  has  received 
from  the  Fountain  of  infinite  goodness  a  dispo- 
sition to  employ  his  fortune  and  influence  in 
works  of  illustrious  beneficence;  and  who  has 
distinguished  himself  beyond  all  who  have  pre- 
ceded him  in  his  own  peculiar  vocation,  by 
making  it  his  unalterable  purpose  to  fight  his 
good  fight  and  finish  his  course  while  living, 
and  not  rely  upon  uncertain  legacies  to  make 
good  the  defects  of  a  half-consecrated  life. 

The  early  struggles  and  unceasing  labors  for 
the  attainment  of  these  high  ends,  are  now  the 
priceless  recollections  of  a  few  persons  who 
must  soon  join  him  in  another  world.  It  is  the 
design  of  this  sketch  to  gather  up  these  treasures 
faithfully,  and  weave  them  into  a  narrative  which 
will  be  read  with  interest  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends,  who  may  be  safely  invited  to  imitate 
this  beautiful  life. 


HIS  CHILDHOOD. 

THE  gracious  providence  of  God  has  always 
prepared  those  who  are  to  serve  Him  in  posi- 
tions of  great  responsibility  and  peculiar  difficul- 
ties, by  an  early  training  corresponding  to  their 
destiny.  The  birth  and  education  of  MATTHIAS 
WILLIAM  BALDWIN  appear  to  have  been  adjusted 
by  Infinite  Wisdom  to  the  influence  he  was 
called  to  exert  on  this  community. 

He  was  born  in  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey, 
the  tenth  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1795.  His 
father,  William  Baldwin,  was  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  of  Elizabethtown,  and 
greatly  beloved  in  every  relation  of  life.  He 
supported  his  family  comfortably  by  the  business 
of  carriage  making,  and  left  them  a  considerable 
property  at  his  death;  but  this  was  almost  en- 
tirely lost  subsequently  by  the  bad  management 
of  the  executors,  and  the  widow  was  left  to  her 
own  exertions  with  a  family  of  five  children, 
Matthias,  the  youngest,  being  four  years  old. 
This  apparent  disaster  may  have  been  the  provi- 


HIS  CHILDHOOD.  13 

dential  beginning  of  his  fortunes  and  his  cha- 
racter. It  gave  him  an  example  of  thrift, 
ingenuity,  and  independence,  the  influence  of 
which  may  be  traced  through  his  whole  career. 
For  his  mother  was  a  remarkable  woman.  By 
indefatigable  industry  she  kept  her  little  family 
together,  afforded  them  fair  advantages,  and 
superintended  their  education  herself. 

In  his  boyhood  he  had  little  taste  for  reading 
or  study.  He  enjoyed  average  advantages  for 
education,  but  never  in  his  youth  fixed  his  atten- 
tion with  any  great  persistence  or  zeal  upon 
books.  The  bent  of  his  mind,  from  his  earliest 
years,  was  toward  mechanical  contrivances.  The 
toys  he  usually  played  with  were  those  which 
he  himself  had  made.  If  he  received  one  as  a 
present,  he  would  take  it  to  pieces  to  learn  its 
construction.  The  abilities  of  his  father,  who 
was  an  excellent  mechanic,  and  the  genius  of 
his  mother,  seem  to  have  been  combined  in  this 
child,  and  the  beginning  of  his  brilliant  career 
in  the  useful  arts  was  made  in  his  mother's  cot- 
tage. He  turned  her  rooms  into  workshops. 
He  scattered  whittlings  and  filings  everywhere. 
While  his  hands  were  busy  in  assisting  his  mo- 


14  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

ther   at  her  work,   his   mind  was   occupied   in 
inventing  some  labor-saving  machine. 

Very  few  incidents  in  his  childhood  are  re- 
membered by  his  survivors.  The  following  is 
recorded,  not  so  much  from  anything  remark- 
able in  itself,  as  for  the  interest  it  derives  from 
his  sterling  honesty  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  his  subsequent  life.  His  incessant  labors 
upon  miniature  toys  and  machines  naturally 
consumed  a  great  deal  of  material.  On  return- 
ing from  school  one  day  with  a  companion, 
they  passed  a  new  building  which  was  just  re- 
ceiving its  roof.  A  pile  of  new  white  pine 
shingles,  made  by  the  old  process  of  shaving, 
lay  in  their  path.  What  a  temptation  to  whit- 
tling boys!  Surprise  at  their  moderation  will 
be  the  only  emotion  upon  learning  that  they 
each  took  but  one.  Matthias  carried  his  directly 
to  his  mother,  and  told  her  where  he  found  it, 
and  what  he  was  going  to  make  of  it.  But  she 
soon  dispelled  his  vision  of  water-wheels  and 
wind-mills,  and  made  him  reproach  himself  as 
bitterly  as  if  he  had  committed  a  really  grave 
offence.  That  was  a  sad  evening  in  the  widow's 
home.  The  boy  cried  as  if  his  heart  would 
break.  The  mother  and  sisters  soon  lost  their 


HIS  CHILDHOOD.  15 

severity  in  judging  the  offender,  in  sympathy 
for  his  distress.  They  had  no  peace  till  of  his 
own  accord  he  carried  the  shingle  back  and 
obtained  forgiveness. 

There  is  a  lesson  to  be  learned  from  the  very 
slight  records  which  can  be  made  of  these  youth- 
ful days.  Let  boys  follow  the  bent  of  their 
minds  in  things  indifferent ;  curb  them  instantly 
where  a  moral  principle  is  at  stake.  If  Mat- 
thias' knives  and  gimlets  and  files  had  been 
taken  away  from  him,  and  he  had  been  confined 
at  the  indifferent  schools  of  his  native  place,  or 
sent  away  to  better  ones,  the  world  would  pro- 
bably have  lost  a  brilliant  machinist,  and  might 
not  have  gained  a  distinguished  scholar.  But  if 
his  first  encroachment  upon  the  laws  of  property 
had  been  overlooked,  he  might  have  lost  that 
sensitiveness  to  honor  which  has  since  distin- 
guished him  more  than  all  his  inventions. 


APPRENTICE  AND  JOURNEYMAN. 

THE  time  had  come  when  his  love  for  me- 
chanical tools  was  to  be  put  to  a  better  use  than 
his  own  amusement.  He  could  not  bear  to  be 
dependent  upon  his  mother  any  longer  than  was 
absolutely  necessary,  and  he  was  determined  to 
make  himself  master  of  some  mechanical  art. 
From  the  first  the  little  toys  of  his  construction 
had  been  remarkable  for  their  finish.  He  was 
never  content  with  a  rough  machine,  which 
would  do  its  work  awkwardly.  The  finest  ma- 
terials were  often  called  into  requisition,  and 
received  at  his  hands  a  marvellous  polish.  He 
had  often  inspected  for  hours  the  mechanism  of 
the  watch,  and  the  height  of  his  ambition  was 
to  understand  its  complicated  structure.  This 
natural  taste,  and  a  favorable  opening,  decided 
the  nature  of  his  first  employment  At  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  Woolworth 
Brothers,  in  Frankford,  Philadelphia  County,  to 
learn  the  trade  of  a  jeweller.  During  the  five 
years  of  his  apprenticeship  his  life  passed  quietly, 


APPRENTICE  AND  JOURNEYMAN.  IJ 

without  incident  of  any  interest  to  the  public. 
He  enjoyed  a  home  in  the  family  of  one  of  his 
employers.  He  was  also  introduced  to  other 
excellent  families  of  the  place,  and  formed  inti- 
macies which  were  precious  to  him  through 
life.  He  made  himself  singular  among  the 
young  men  of  his  acquaintance  by  refusing  to 
indulge  in  any  intoxicating  drinks.  A  dreadful 
example  of  intemperance  in  a  relative  of  his 
father's  seemed  to  be  constantly  before  his  eyes ; 
and  he  commenced  life  with  the  principle  which 
he  always  followed,  of  total  abstinence.  His 
remarkable  taste  for  music  was  also  developed 
at  this  period;  and  his  highest  enjoyment  was 
the  social  meetings  of  the  little  Presbyterian 
church  for  the  practice  of  sacred  song. 

While  he  was  thus  employed  his  mother  had 
moved  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  the  early  part  of 
1817  he  entered  the  establishment  of  Fletcher 
and  Gardener,  130  Chestnut  Street,  where  the 
Western  National  Bank  now  stands.  They  were 
extensive  manufacturers  of  jewelry,  and  were 
obliged  to  repose  great  confidence  in  their  jour- 
neymen. Mr.  Baldwin  soon  became  one  of  the 
most  useful  men  in  the  shop.  His  work  was 
not  mere  blind  imitation.  He  loved  to  make  a 

3 


I  8  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

perfect  thing.  He  was  too  conscientious  to 
venture  upon  hazardous  experiments,  yet  the 
frequent  orders  demanding  thought,  taste,  and 
invention,  soon  began  to  pass  into  his  hands. 
He  was  enthusiastic  in  work  which  others  per- 
formed as  a  mere  routine.  He  thus  rose  rapidly 
in  the  esteem  of  his  employers,  and  yet  never 
lost  the  confidence  and  even  affection  of  his  fel- 
low workmen.  With  them  he  was  rather  reti- 
cent, yet  always  genial  and  cheerful. 

But  he  was  independent  also,  and  just  as  de- 
termined in  what  he  felt  to  be  right,  as  if  he  had 
been  the  proprietor  of  the  whole  establishment. 
Many  traits  of  character  which  have  since  be- 
come prominent,  were  noticed  at  this  early 
day.  All  his  acquaintances  have  observed,  for 
example,  his  firmness  of  purpose,  which  often 
seemed  to  verge  rather  close  upon  obstinacy. 
He  had  a  way  wnich  was  quite  provoking  some- 
times, of  doing  just  what  he  thought  right, 
without  appearing  to  listen  to  the  very  decided 
protests  of  friends.  It  came  to  be  pretty  well 
understood  at  last,  that  words  were  thrown  away 
after  he  had  once  made  up  his  mind.  This 
disposition  had  some  rough  tests  at  this  period. 
He  was  using  a  tool  one  day  which  a  fellow 


APPRENTICE  AND  JOURNEYMAN.  19 

journeyman  claimed,  and  was  about  to  transfer 
to  his  own  bench.  Baldwin  looked  at  it  care- 
fully, and  replied — 

"That  tool  is  mine." 

Then  commenced  a  war  of  words  all  on  one 
side.  His  neighbor  proved  to  his  own  satisfac- 
tion, by  a  variety  of  arguments,  that  the  article 
belonged  to  him.  Not  a  word  from  Baldwin. 
He  kept  quietly  on  with  his  work.  But  the 
moment  an  attempt  was  made  to  take  the  tool, 
a  contest  began  which  effectually  prevented  all 
attempts  to  trifle  with  him  in  the  future. 

He  worked  as  a  journeyman  two  years.  His 
wages  were  considered  excellent  then,  and  his 
life  was  free  from  care,  and  full  of  bright  ex- 
pectations. He  has  often  dwelt  upon  the  recol- 
lections of  those  early  days  with  the  liveliest 
pleasure.  His  labors  upon  objects  of  exquisite 
beauty  developed  his  taste  for  art,  and  he  always 
took  the  path  to  and  from  his  shop  which  led 
him  by  the  windows  where  the  finest  paintings 
and  engravings  were  exposed.  Then  he  would 
sit  by  his  fireside  in  the  delicious  repose  which 
only  hard  work  and  a  good  conscience  can  im- 
part, and  dream  of  the  time  when  his  home 
would  be  full  of  the  beautiful  things  he  loved, 


20  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

and  he  would  give  poor  journeymen  something 
better  to  look  at  than  the  windows  of  print 
stores.  He  lived  to  do  noble  things,  as  well  as 
dream  them. 


HIS  CHANGE  OF  OCCUPATION. 

BY  close  economy,  which  was  seconded  at 
home  with  interest,  and  by  the  help  of  some 
capital  from  the  same  source,  he  was  able  to 
commence  the  manufacture  of  ornamental  jew- 
elry in  a  small  way,  in  1819.  His  reputation  as 
an  honest  and  ingenious  workman  attracted  cus- 
tom immediately,  and  his  success  was  very  flat- 
tering. Opportunities  for  working  out  original 
ideas  of  his  own  were  now  afforded,  and  eagerly 
followed.  He  seemed  to  be  just  beginning  to 
realize  his  most  ardent  expectations,  when,  by  a 
curious  revulsion  known  to  all  the  trades,  jewelry 
seemed  to  go  literally  out  of  fashion.  There 
was  no  demand  even  for  such  excellent  and 
tasteful  work  as  his.  He  was  thus  arrested  at 
the  very  beginning  of  his  career  in  an  employ- 
ment for  which  he  had  made  such  laborious 
preparations.  Providence  had  something  better 
for  him  to  do! 

Still  his  apprenticeship  and  four  years'  em- 
ployment in  this  trade  were  not  lost,  but  proved 


22  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

to  be  the  best  possible  preparation  for  his  labors 
of  surpassing  usefulness  in  after  life.  Their 
influence  may  be  traced  in  two  remarkable  traits 
of  his  character  as  a  machinist :  First,  the  mi- 
nute accuracy  and  perfect  finish  of  all  his  work. 
This  was  unquestionably  the  result  of  his  expe- 
riments with  the  finer  metals  at  that  period,  and 
the  master  hand  he  acquired  with  the  engraver's 
tools.  In  fact  he  produced  a  finish  which  re- 
quired better  tools  than  could  then  be  purchased. 
He  has  often  said  that  his  manufacturing  was  a 
work  of  necessity.  He  was  never  engaged  in  a 
business  in  his  life  which  did  not  demand  finer 
machines  than  he  could  buy.  He  was  never 
content  to  imitate  others  blindly.  He  not  only 
made  progress  in  every  art,  but  paved  the  way 
for  his  progress  from  the  beginning.  Secondly, 
his  work  upon  jewelry  was  a  stimulus,  and  at 
the  same  time  a  safeguard  to  his  inventive  spirit. 
It  is  remarkable  that  a  man  of  such  marvellous 
ingenuity  wasted  so  little  of  his  life  on  chi- 
merical inventions.  The  Patent  Office  is  full 
of  magnificent  follies;  the  creations  of  fertile 
brains,  without  the  balance  of  a  thorough  scien- 
tific training.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  then  ignorant 
of  theoretical  science;  he  had  not  pursued  the 


HIS  CHANGE  OF  OCCUPATION.  23 

study  of  pure  mathematics,  chemistry,  nor  me- 
tallurgy. But  in  the  place  of  the  restraint  im- 
posed by  a  scientific  training,  he  had  the  drill 
of  a  long  and  tedious  apprenticeship,  with  a 
thoroughly  practical  knowledge  of  all  materials 
employed  in  the  arts.  He  was  equally  eminent, 
therefore,  in  sagacity  and  courage.  The  inven- 
tions which  he  made  at  this  period  justify  this 
estimate  of  him  as  fully  as  those  which  are  bet- 
ter known  to  the  public. 

One  of  them  was  a  new  process  of  Gold 
Plating,  which  was  never  protected  by  a  patent, 
and  is  now  very  generally  employed.  Instead 
of  attaching  the  gold  leaf  to  the  baser  metal, 
he  soldered  a  thicker  piece  of  gold  to  the  base, 
and  rolled  the  two  together  until  they  were 
compressed  to  the  required  thinness. 

His  love  for  these  pursuits,  which  survived 
the  impetuous  spirit  of  youth,  and  supplied  his 
later  years  with  recreations,  was  a  motive  of  a 
very  high  order  in  all  his  labors.  Ingenuity, 
natural  genius,  and  original  invention  filled  his 
mind  with  that  glowing  enthusiasm  which  lifted 
him  above  the  routine  of  reluctant  toil  into  the 
region  of  adventurous  exploit.  He  was  more 
than  artisan — always  artist. 


24  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

He  was  thus  prepared  for  more  useful  work 
than  making  articles  for  personal  adornment, 
just  when  this  employment  ceased  to  be  profit- 
able. But  God  was  not  only  guiding  his  steps, 
but  touching  his  conscience.  The  decreasing 
demand  for  jewelry,  his  successful  experiments 
with  steel,  and  his  bold  spirit  of  adventure,  may 
have  had  something  to  do  in  his  change  of  em- 
ployment. But  we  have  the  most  unquestion- 
able evidence  that  the  decisive  consideration 
after  all,  was  a  scruple  of  conscience.  One  of 
the  very  few  revelations  of  his  secret  purposes 
which  he  ever  made  in  conversation,  refers  to 
this  period,  and  expresses  in  the  energetic  lan- 
guage which  he  knew  how  to  use,  the  actual 
reasons  which  induced  him  to  "put  away  child- 
ish things." 

"  One  night  I  sat  down  to  think  my  life  over," 
he  said,  "and  what  account  I  should  give  in  the 
day  of  judgment,  for  all  my  labors;  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  I  could  not  bear  to  say  I  had  spent 
my  time  in  making  gewgaws!"  This  was  many 
years  before  he  professed  to  be  a  Christian. 


BOOKBINDERS'    TOOLS    AND    CALICO 
PRINTING  MACHINES. 

THE  special  providence  of  God  is  a  truth  so 
constantly  revealed  in  the  life  of  every  man, 
that  an  honest  doubt  of  it  would  seem  to  be 
impossible.  The  experience  of  all  good  men 
at  least  goes  to  prove  that  God  never  suffers  a 
reasonable  scruple  to  weigh  upon  the  conscience 
without  providing  the  means  to  obey  it  instantly. 
Mr.  Baldwin's  life  is  full  of  examples  of  this 
kind.  One  of  the  most  instructive  among  them 
occurred  at  this  time. 

Just  when  his  conscience,  his  tastes,  and  the 
exigency  of  his  business  demanded  ,a  career  of 
enlarged  usefulness,  the  way  was  providentially 
opened  to  him.  He  had  often  met  a  machinist 
by  the  name  of  David  Mason.  This  man  was 
now  engaged  in  wood  engraving,  and  had  formed 
an  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  book  pub- 
lishers of  the  city.  He  observed  that  all  their 
tools  and  machines  for  binding  were  imported, 
and  conceived  the  idea  of  commencing  the 
4 


26  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

manufacture  of  these  articles  himself.  He  pro- 
posed to  share  the  business  with  Mr.  Baldwin. 
They  issued  their  circulars  in  the  early  part  of 
1825,  and  orders  came  in  so  rapidly  that  they 
soon  gave  up  the  employment  in  which  they 
had  each  been  engaged,  and  entered  with  zeal 
upon  the  new  business.  Their  establishment 
was  in  a  narrow  street  in  the  rear  of  Walnut, 
between  Fourth  and  Fifth.  In  addition  to  the 
machines  then  in  use,  they  manufactured  hy- 
draulic presses  for  binding.  Through  their  bold 
enterprise  the  book  trade  became  completely 
independent  of  the  foreign  market,  and  re- 
ceived valuable  improvements.  The  most  in- 
genious and  beautiful  designs  for  stamping  the 
gilt  lettering  upon  the  backs  and  covers  of  books 
were  produced  from  their  shop.  The  stiff  and 
gloomy  appearance  of  library  shelves  began  to 
give  place  to  wreaths  and  rosettes  and  leaves, 
surrounding  the  attractive  titles.  Rev.  Albert 
Barnes  still  retains  as  a  precious  memento  of  his 
lifelong  friend — a  little  stamp,  containing  the 
watchword  of  his  studies,  "BIBLE,"  wreathed 
in  a  lacework  of  delicate  vines.  Mr.  Baldwin's 
designs  were  remarkably  chaste  and  appropriate. 
To  this  they  soon  added  the  manufacture  of 


MECHANICAL  TOOLS.  2J 

cylinders  for  printing  calicoes.  The  figures  or 
devices  to  be  impressed  upon  the  cloth  were 
engraved  upon  the  surface  of  these  rollers,  in- 
stead of  plane  blocks  as  formerly,  and  the  whole 
piece  of  muslin  passed  through  the  press  in  a 
continuous  motion.  Various  methods  were  tried 
to  diminish  the  hand  labor  required  in  the  pre- 
paration of  these  cylinders,  such  as  etching  and 
punching  the  surface  of  the  copper  with  tools 
previously  containing  the  proposed  device.  But 
the  best  tool  for  this  purpose  proved  to  be  a  little 
roller  called  a  "  mill."  This  was  a  few  inches  long 
and  less  than  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  the  re- 
quired device  being  once  engraved  on  its  surface, 
could  be  transferred  to  the  cylinder  by  rolling. 
But  Mr.  Baldwin  was  not  content  with  this. 
He  was  determined  to  diminish  the  manual 
labor  in  preparing  these  "mills."  He  had  pre- 
viously experimented  upon  dies  for  bank-note 
printing,  and  had  succeeded  in  producing  a  fac- 
simile of  a  die  upon  another  piece  of  steel,  by 
pressure  alone.  The  original  die  was  impressed 
upon  a  surface  of  soft  steel,  this  was  then  hard- 
ened and  impressed  upon  another,  which  last 
reproduced  with  mathematical  precision  the 
features  of  the  original  die.  This  invention  was 


28  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

certainly  original  with  Mr.  Baldwin,  though 
others  may  have  employed  it  before  him,  and 
we  find  no  claim  on  his  part  to  a  patent,  and  no 
evidence  that  he  ever  carried  on  the  business  of 
bank-note  engraving.  But  the  application  of 
the  same  principle  to  the  preparation  of  copper 
cylinders  for  printing  calico  was  one  of  his  most 
remarkable  discoveries,  and  deserves  to  be  ranked 
along  with  stereotyping,  in  its  kindred  art.  The 
former  method  of  making  these  mills  was  by 
punches.  The  punches  having  on  them  the  re- 
quired device,  were  driven  into  the  roller,  and 
the  metal  raised  up  was  faced  off,  and  the  parts 
united  and  trimmed  with  a  graver;  a  process 
which  required  so  much  hand  work  that  the 
whole  figure  was  often  cut  in  with  a  graver  in 
preference.  The  improvement  of  Mason  and 
Baldwin  consisted  in  etching  the  device  on  the 
steel  mill.  By  covering  the  steel  surface  with  a 
varnish  or  etching  ground,  tracing  upon  this  the 
required  figure,  and  plunging  the  whole  into  an 
acid  prepared  in  a  peculiar  manner,  he  succeeded 
in  etching  upon  soft  steel  as  perfectly  as  upon 
copper.  A  few  touches  of  the  graver  would 
finish  the  device,  and  no  more  work  by  hand 
would  be  required  for  the  whole  copper  cylin- 


MECHANICAL  TOOLS.  29 

der.  For  this  "mill,"  being  hardened,  was 
rolled  with  immense  pressure  upon  another  of 
precisely  the  same  dimensions,  which  thus  pre- 
sented the  same  figures  in  relief.  This  second 
steel  cylinder  was  then  in  turn  hardened,  and 
rolled  with  the  same  pressure  upon  the  surface 
of  the  large  printing  cylinder  of  copper.  By 
the  time  the  copper  cylinder  had  made  one 
revolution,  the  faithful  little  die  had  made  re- 
peated indentations  of  the  designs  to  be  pro- 
duced upon  the  fabric  with  surprising  accuracy. 
It  then  only  required  readjustment,  and  another 
revolution  would  impress  the  same  figures  by 
the  side  of  the  first.  The  process  was  continued 
until  the  whole  cylinder  was  ready  for  use  with- 
out a  touch  from  the  engraver's  hand!  The 
dies  were  preserved,  and  the  plates  with  all  their 
matchless  perfection  could  be  multiplied  indefi- 
nitely.* 

Engraving  has  made  such  advances  since  that 
day,  and  Mr.  Baldwin's  own  achievements  have 
been  so  much  more  brilliant,  that  this  success  is 
almost  forgotten  except  by  the  few  who  remem- 
ber the  incredulity  it  encountered  when  he  first 
proposed  it,  and  the  astonishment  with  which 

*  Journal  Franklin  Institute,  June,  1828,  p.  418. 


30  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

its  success  was  received.  It  made  a  complete 
revolution  in  this  branch  of  our  manufacturing 
interests,  then  just  rising  to  importance.  It  is 
gratifying  to  know,  also,  that  it  was  the  begin- 
ning of  his  own  prosperity.  He  often  sat  down 
to  his  work  upon  the  little  mill,  and  earned 
thirty  dollars  before  rising  from  his  seat.  New 
difficulties  were  encountered  and  successively 
overcome.  More  colors  than  one  were  required. 
He  made  cylinders  for  printing  in  three  differ- 
ent colors,  mounted  them  in  frames,  and  finished 
the  complete  machines  for  this  difficult  process. 
The  "gewgaws"  have  already  been  supplanted 
by  works  of  great  usefulness.  He  has  fashioned 
a  delicate  and  attractive  binding  for  the  volume 
of  God's  word.  The  millions  of  mothers  and 
sisters  who  have  to  struggle  in  the  brave  way 
he  had  always  witnessed  at  home,  he  has  pro- 
vided with  cheap  and  elegant  garments.  He 
has  left  the  political  parties  to  wrangle  about 
the  United  States  Bank  and  the  tariffs,  while  he 
has  been  quietly  arresting  the  exportation  of 
cotton,  and  increasing  home  manufactures.  And 
by  thus  following  a  principle  of  conscience,  he 
has  laid  the  foundation  for  enduring  prosperity, 
and  provided  himself  a  comfortable  home. 


MECHANICAL  TOOLS.  31 

He  was  by  no  means  wealthy  at  this  time,  yet 
his  attention  was  directed  to  a  better  employ- 
ment of  his  growing  capital  than  the  increase- 
of  his  own  comforts.  A  large  number  of  ap- 
prentices and  journeymen  were  now  employed 
in  his  establishment,  and  he  felt  that  they 
needed  some  better  means  of  instruction  in  the 
mechanical  arts  than  the  city  then  afforded. 
The  result  of  his  deliberations  with  many  men 
since  eminent  in  science  and  industry,  was  the 
formation  of  the  "Franklin  Institute,"  which 
was  incorporated  March  30,  1824,  the  constitu- 
tion having  been  adopted  on  the  fifth  of  Feb- 
ruary. This  admirable  institution  has  offered 
instruction,  models,  drawings,  and  means  for 
scientific  experiment  to  multitudes  of  our  rising 
mechanics;  has  preserved  the  only  complete  list 
of  patents  in  the  country,  and  has  gathered  the 
most  valuable  library  in  the  city  on  the  useful 
arts.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  an  active  member  and 
liberal  supporter  of  the  institution  from  its 
origin.  And  the  complete  record  of  his  suc- 
cessive inventions  which  its  able  journal  con- 
tains, is  a  just  tribute  to  his  industry  and  in- 
genuity. 


STATIONARY  STEAM  ENGINES. 

THE  manufacture  of  the  printing  rollers  in- 
creased the  business  of  Mason  &  Baldwin  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  little  establishment  in 
"Bank  Coffee-House  Alley"  soon  became  too 
narrow  for  the  demands  upon  them,  and  their 
success  warranted  a  considerable  enlargement. 
Near  the  close  of  1827  or  early  in  1828  they 
removed  to  Minor  Street,  designing  to  continue 
the  same  business.  But  the  time  had  now  come 
for  Mr.  Baldwin  to  enter  upon  the  great  work 
of  his  life.  The  increasing  facilities  of  the  new 
shop  made  the  old  hand  machines  and  foot 
lathes  intolerable.  Horse  power  was  tried  and 
proved  wholly  inadequate.  At  last  a  steam- 
engine  was  purchased,  the  best  which  was  then 
to  be  obtained.  But  Mr.  Baldwin  was  dis- 
satisfied with  its  performance,  and  after  a  few 
attempts  to  improve  it,  decided  to  manufacture 
a  new  one  after  original  drawings  of  his  own. 
This  was  a  compact  little  engine  of  about  five 
horse  power,  upright,  and  occupying  a  space  of 


STATIONARY  STEAM  ENGINES.  33 

about  six  square  feet.  So  perfect  was  the  con- 
struction of  every  part  that  it  was  absolutely 
noiseless  in  its  motion.  It  stood  near  the  en- 
trance of  the  shop,  and  the  opening  door  en- 
tirely hid  it  from  view,  so  that  visitors  seeing 
nothing  and  hearing  nothing,  inquired  with 
wonder  where  the  power  came  from.  The 
boiler  was  beneath,  near  the  forge  of  the  black- 
smith, who  supplied  the  fuel. 

This  little  engine  is  still  in  use,  with  scarcely 
diminished  powers,  at  the  advanced  age  of  nearly 
forty  years.  It  drives  the  machinery  of  the 
whole  boiler  shop  in  the  Broad  Street  factory. 
A  friend  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  of  some  antiquarian 
tastes,  visited  the  venerable  relic  since  his  death, 
and  asked  the  engineer  why  they  did  not  relieve 
it  of  these  arduous  labors  in  order  to  prolong  its 
existence. 

"I  used  to  ask  Mr.  Baldwin,"  he  replied,  "to 
ease  her  up  a  little.  But  he  said  he  meant  to 
do  all  the  work  he  could  as  long  as  he  lived, 
and  he  required  as  much  of  his  machines." 

This  engine  was  not  only  more  complete  in 
finish  and  powerful  in  movement  than  any  which 
had  preceded  it  in  this  country,  but  contained 
an  original  invention  of  the  greatest  importance 

5 


34  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

in  marine  engineering.  To  convert  the  hori- 
zontal motion  of  the  piston  into  rotary  motion, 
requires  a  connecting  rod  which  can  move  with 
the  crank  of  the  fly  wheel.  This  rod  is  usually 
attached  to  the  extremity  of  the  piston,  so  that 
the  revolving  shaft  must  be  removed  from  the 
•  cylinder  the  whole  length  of  both  piston  and 
connecting  rod.  Mr.  Baldwin  set  his  cylinder 
upright;  fixed  the  end  of  the  piston  into  a  kind 
of  frame  like  the  gate  of  a  saw-mill,  which  was 
attached  to  the  cylinder  by  guides  on  each  side, 
and  played  up  and  down  in  the  same  space. 
Another  gate  outside  of  this,  attached  to  it  at 
the  bottom,  and  vibrating  freely  at  the  top,  gave 
motion  to  the  crank.  The  whole  machine  was 
thus  compressed  into  half  the  space  usually 
occupied.  This  invention,  called  for  to  econo- 
mize room  in  the  Minor  Street  shop,  contains 
in  a  germ  the  principles  of  the  ponderous 
engines  of  our  steamships. 

The  religious  public  will  be  interested  to 
know  the  use  to  which  the  second  engine  of 
Mr.  Baldwin's  construction  was  put.  It  was  a 
little  five-horse  machine  for  the  American  Sun- 
day-School Union.  The  first  Christian  litera- 
ture for  the  young  ever  printed  in  America  by 


STATIONARY  STEAM  ENGINES.  35 

steam,  was  probably  the  work  of  this  engine. 
He  has  been  Superintendent  of  Sabbath-Schools 
since;  he  has  built  many  mission  chapels;  but 
his  first  work  for  the  children  was  furnishing 
their  beautiful  books  by  the  thousands. 

The  manufacture  of  stationary  engines  soon 
became  the  most  important  business  of  the  shop. 
And  their  increased  power  created,  a  demand 
which  stimulated  competition.  A  stranger  came 
to  him  one  day  with  excellent  introductions, 
and  after  a  moment's  general  conversation,  made 
known  his  errand.  He  told  him  candidly  that 
he  was  going  into  business  in  opposition  to  him, 
and  as  the  superiority  of  the  Baldwin  engines 
consisted  in  the  excellence  of  his  materials,  and 
the  perfect  make  of  his  boilers,  he  asked  him 
if  he  was  willing  to  inform  him  where  he  ob- 
tained his  iron,  and  who  made  his  boilers.  Mr. 
Baldwin  gave  him  the  desired  information  with- 
out a  moment's  hesitation,  with  the  generous 
remark  that  there  was  room  enough  for  them 
both. 

The  business  now  became  so  large  as  to  alarm 
the  timid  and  cautious  Mason.  He  therefore 
withdrew  from  the  firm  in  a  year  or  two  after 
the  Minor  Street  property  was  purchased.  But 


36  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Mr.  Baldwin  had  the  confidence  of  the  hands 
to  such  a  degree,  that  every  man  remained  with 
him  and  the  work  went  on  without  the  slightest 
interruption. 

The  review  of  these  ten  years  is  full  of  sug- 
gestion to  young  men  of  enterprise  and  integrity. 
The  industrious  and  faithful  apprentice  has  been 
a  journeyman,  and  an  independent  manufacturer. 
He  has  invented  machines  which  increase  ten- 
fold the  capacity  of  labor.  He  has  introduced 
into  this  country  two  or  three  new  articles  of 
manufacture  which  are  increasing  immensely  its 
material  interests.  He  has  assisted  in  founding 
an  institution  which  will  develop  the  character 
and  make  the  fortune  of  whole  generations  of 
young  men  yet  unborn.  And  now  he  has  be- 
come one  of  the  foremost  manufacturers  of  sta- 
tionary steam  engines  in  America.  All  this  in 
ten  years,  with  half  of  his  threescore  and  ten 
still  to  live! 


THE  GREAT  CHANGE. 

WE  now  come  to  the  most  important  event 
in  Mr.  Baldwin's  life.  Our  readers  will  proba- 
bly anticipate  the  commencement  of  that  mag- 
nificent enterprise  which  will  always  link  his 
name  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  with  that  of 
Stephenson  in  English  history.  But  the  build- 
ing of  the  first  locomotive  was  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  event  now  to  be  described  in  its 
influence  upon  his  own  character  and  interests, 
much  less  in  the  good  he  has  accomplished  for 
others.  Thus  far  he  had  been  governed  by 
principles  of  strict  integrity.  But  a  great  change 
in  worldly  prosperity  was  just  before  him.  He 
was  soon  to  be  tried  by  such  success  as  few  men 
have  endured  without  corruption.  He  was  to 
be  brought  into  competition  with  men  who 
would  gladly  turn  his  principles  against  him,  to 
ruin  the  enterprise  on  which  his  reputation  and 
his  success  depended.  He  was  to  encounter 
temptations  to  seek  his  own  aggrandizement  by 
methods  which  all  the  world  would  applaud. 


38  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Opportunities  were  now  to  open  before  him,  to 
be  one  of  the  most  selfish,  or  else  one  of  the 
most  disinterested  men  in  his  generation.  Had 
he  character  enough  for  this  trial  ?  Would  those 
principles  of  simple  justice  and  generosity  to  his 
fellow  men,  carry  him  through  this  ordeal  ? 

How  often  the  experiment  has  been  made; 
how  mournful  the  result  has  too  often  been! 
It  is  not  a  conjecture,  but  an  assurance  of  God's 
word,  that  Mr.  Baldwin  would  have  failed  in 
the  immense  responsibilities  now  to  be  intrusted 
to  him,  if  he  had  received  them  with  no  other 
principles  in  his  heart  than  the  love  of  honor, 
and  the  generous  disposition  which  had  animated 
him  thus  far.  He  had  not  been  governed  by 
religious  principle.  He  did  not  live  a  life  of 
prayer.  He  did  not  feel  his  dependence  upon 
God.  He  had  amiable  impulses,  but  he  obeyed 
them  capriciously;  he  did  not  recognize  the  duty 
of  living  for  others  rather  than  for  himself.  He 
had  no  knowledge  of  God,  and  therefore  no 
true  knowledge  of  himself  nor  of  other  men. 
The  essential  narrowness  of  his  purposes  he  had 
never  suspected,  much  less  the  buried  energies 
of  his  mind,  and  the  capability  of  self-sacrifice 
which  were  yet  to  be  called  to  life. 


THE  GREAT  CHANGE.  39 

All  this  birthright  of  his  soul  must  be  given 
to  him  by  a  painful  struggle.  We  cannot  see 
very  clearly  into  the  shadows  which  now  deep- 
ened around  him.  He  scarcely  lifted  the  veil 
by  a  single  word  then,  nor  in  all  his  subsequent 
life.  We  know  the  occasion.  It  was  a  quiet 
but  solemn  revival  of  religious  interest  in  the 
Arch  Street  Church,  where  he  worshipped.  A 
young  man  of  spare  person,  ungraceful  gesture, 
but  impassioned  eloquence,  breathing  .upon  his 
crowded  congregation  the  very  spirit  of  his  mas- 
ter, touched  his  soul  to  its  profoundest  depths.* 

*  Thomas  H.  Skinner,  D.  D.,  Professor  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  N.  Y.  The  following  letter  will  be  an  encouragement  to 
ministers  of  the  Gospel  to  "sow  by  all  waters:" — 

NEW  YORK,  Sept.  29,  1866. 
REV.  AND  DEAR  SIR: 

I  did  not  know  that  the  late  M.  W.  Baldwin  was  converted 
under  my  preaching,  and  have  no  recollection  of  his  religious  expe- 
rience, or  any  other  acquaintance  with  his  religious  life,  than  what 
is  common  to  the  public.  I  have  long  held  him  in  peculiar  esteem, 
as  a  man  of  great  excellence,  and  a  evoted  dservant  of  Christ,  and 
rejoice  to  bear  through  you,  my  MINISTRY  was  the  means  of  his  conver- 
sion some  forty  years  ago.  But  I  do  not  remember  that  I  ever  had  a 
conversation  with  him  on  the  subject  of  personal  religion.  His 
death  is  a  great  affliction,  which  I  hope  will  be  sanctified  to  his 
family  and  friends.  He  deserves  a  special  memorial,  and  I  am  glad 
that  you  are  engaged  in  preparing  one,  and  regret  that  I  cannot  fur- 
nish you  with  the  tribute  you  have  requested  of  me. 
With  great  regard,  yours, 

THOMAS  H.  SKINNER. 


40  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

He  was  drawn  by  an  influence  which  he  made 
no  attempt  to  resist,  into  a  meeting  for  personal 
conversation.  Day  after  day  for  weeks,  he 
sought  this  and  every  means  of  grace.  But  the 
work  was  too  thorough  to  be  hastened. 

He  did  not  receive  much  help  from  conver- 
sation with  Christians  of  experience.  As  he 
expressed  it  himself,  in  the  revival  of  1858, 
Christians  "did  not  use  market  language  with 
him ;  they  did  not  make  the  gospel  plain  so  that 
common  men  could  pick  it  up.  They  fired  over 
his  head.  They  did  not  know  how  ignorant 
sinners  are."  For  he  soon  got  far  enough  to 
feel  himself  a  sinner.  He  found  that  all  his  life 
long,  and  not  least  in  his  proud  self-reliance,  his 
heart  was  in  defiant  rebellion  against  God.  He 
began  to  cry  for  mercy.  Behold,  he  prayeth! 
Very  soon,  however,  his  prayers  began  to  trouble 
him.  He  felt  them  to  be  such  miserable  ac- 
knowledgments of  mercies;  such  heartless  con- 
fessions of  sins;  such  cold  supplications  for 
forgiveness,  that  he  seemed  to  be  mocking  rather 
than  worshipping  God.  He  went  to  an  old 
Christian  and  asked  what  he  must  do. 

"Ask  for  grace,"  was  the  reply. 


THE  GREAT  CHANGE.  41 

Again  he  got  into  trouble  about  temptation. 
Again  he  pressed  the  same  inquiry. 

"Ask  for  grace,"  was  again  the  answer. 

Once  more  he  became  embarrassed  about 
duties,  and  receiving  the  same  answer  as  before, 
he  lost  all  patience,  and  exclaimed: — 

"Why,  one  would  think,  according  to  you, 
that  Christian  life  is  nothing  but  grace,  grace, 
grace,  all  the  way  through." 

"And  so  IT  is,"  he  lived  to  say  in  his  old  age. 
"All  of  grace"  were  almost  the  last  words  upon 
his  lips.  But  he  was  too  ignorant  to  understand 
it  then.* 

This  little  glimpse  of  his  first  religious  expe- 
rience, which  he  might  not  have  afforded  but 
for  the  hope  of  leading  others  to  Him  who  said, 
"My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee,"  throws  some 
light  upon  the  nature  of  his  struggle.  Accus- 
tomed all  his  life  to  depend  upon  himself,  it  was 
hard  for  him  to  "cease  from  his  own  works" 
and  "enter  into  rest."  The  spirit  of  childlike 
trust,  which  was  the  most  beautiful  characteristic 
of  his  piety  in  after  life,  was  only  imparted  after 

*  Rev.  George  Duffield,  jr.,  in  American  Presbyterian,  Sept.  27, 
1866. 

6 


42  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

he  had  tried  his  own  strength  to  the  utmost 
and  found  it  perfect  weakness.  He  seemed  to 
fall  like  a  wayward,  wearied  child,  into  the  arms 
of  forgiving  love,  and  to  breathe  out  at  once  the 
prayer  and  the  assurance — 

"Forever  here  my  rest  shall  be." 

Mr.  Baldwin  commenced  his  Christian  life 
with  that  directness  and  force  which  character- 
ized all  he  ever  undertook.  He  began  in  his 
closet  and  very  soon  in  his  family.  His  first 
prayer  in  the  hearing  of  others  will  not  soon  be 
forgotten.  He  did  not  dare  to  trust  his  own 
words  yet,  and  he  availed  himself  of  a  simple 
manual  of  family  devotions.  But  one  evening, 
not  long  after,  his  prayer-book  could  not  be 
found.  He  looked  in  every  room,  and  soon  the 
whole  family  joined  in  the  search.  But  it  was 
lost.  The  children  gathered  round  the  fireside 
with  that  curious  awe  which  such  a  disaster  was 
calculated  to  inspire.  Their  wonder  continued 
till  he  had  read  the  chapter  to  the  close.  Then 
he  kneeled  down  and  commended  them  all  to 
the  Heavenly  Father,  who  knoweth  what  things 
we  have  need  of  before  we  ask  him.  He  never 
used  a  prayer-book  again. 


THE  GREAT  CHANGE.  43 

Mr.  Baldwin  did  not  unite  with  the  Church 
for  several  years  after  his  conversion.  About 
that  time  he  became  alienated  from  the  Arch 
Street  congregation  by  circumstances  which 
show  they  little  knew  what  a  treasure  they  were 
losing.  He  found  one  Sabbath  in  the  pew 
which  he  was  occupying  on  brief  rentals,  a  note 
with  the  statement,  "This  pew  is  sold,  and  must 
be  vacated  immediately."  As  no  effort  was 
made  to  find  other  sittings  for  his  family,  he 
inferred  that  he  was  not  wanted  there,  and  be- 
gan to  hear  other  ministers  of  the  same  denomi- 
nation. He  was  led  by  curiosity  to  hear  the 
newly-elected  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  on 
Washington  Square.  There  was  something  in 
the  simplicity,  perspicuity,  and  straightforward 
earnestness  of  Mr..  Barnes'  preaching  which 
completely  captivated  his  heart. 

In  June,  1831,  he  was  admitted  to  this  church 
on  confession  of  repentance  and  faith  in  the 
Saviour.  He  asked  at  once  for  labor  in  the 
vineyard.  His  first  work  was  in  the  Sabbath 
School,  where  he  taught  successive  classes,  was 
then  made  Superintendent,  and  finally  had  a 
large  Bible-class  of  young  men,  in  the  pastor's 
study.  Elders  of  churches  are  still  living  who 


44  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

were  converted  in  that  Bible-class.  For  thirty- 
five  years  Mr.  Baldwin  was  never  absent,  except 
by  necessity,  from  the  Sabbath  School. 

As  an  officer  of  the  church  in  his  later  years, 
he  was  always  remarkable  for  his  eagerness  to 
"bring  the  young  men  out"  as  soon  as  they 
joined  the  church.  "I  tell  you,"  he  used  to  say, 
"  they  never  will  do  any  good  if  they  do  not 
commence  now."  All  this  was  a  fruit  of  his 
own  experience.  No  young  Christian  ever  felt 
a  greater  shrinking  from  the  duty  of  public 
prayer  and  conference.  But  from  his  conversion 
to  his  death  he  never  paused  to  debate  the 
question  of  performing  a  known  duty.  It  never 
once  occurred  to  him  to  consult  his  own  feel- 
ings about  doing  the  whole  work  of  a  Christian. 
And  the  prayer  meeting  felt  the  fervor  of  his 
piety  from  the  very  first. 

Mr.  Baldwin's  conversion  was  a  marked  and 
thorough  change  of  character.  He  was  a  whole- 
souled  Christian  from  the  first,  and  blended  the 
spirit  of  childlike  trust  in  God,  which  ever  after 
formed  such  a  beautiful  element  in  his  piety, 
with  an  immediate  adjustment  of  his  business 
to  the  Gospel  standard  of  integrity,  and  the 
most  aggressive  labors  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 


THE  GREAT  CHANGE.  45 

The  serenity  of  temper  which  has  been  so  often 
attributed  to  his  natural  disposition,  he  has  him- 
self repeatedly  ascribed  to  the  grace  of  God 
overcoming  the  infirmities  of  an  irritable  nature. 
The  conscience  which  always  seemed  to  choose 
the  right  without  thought  or  calculation,  was 
not  an  instinct,  but  the  gift  of  God  in  answer  to 
prayer.  His  courage  to  defend  righteous  prin- 
ciples far  in  advance  of  his  age,  and  illustrate 
them  yet  more  conspicuously  by  his  example, 
and  his  disposition  to  consecrate  his  wealth  and 
influence  to  the  good  of  others  and  the  glory  of 
God,  were  the  fruits  of  this  blessed  experience 
of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  It  would  be  an 
insufferable  offence  to  his  memory  to  hold  up 
before  the  young  his  illustrious  example  without 
pointing  them  to  the  Fountain  of  infinite  grace 
from  which  he  derived  his  excellence.  All  the 
great  moral  qualities  for  which  his  name  will 
be  honored,  date  from  about  the  time  of  his 
serious  attention  to  personal  religion. 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING. 

THE  employment  of  steam  for  moving  car- 
riages on  land  had  occupied  the  attention  of 
inventors  for  nearly  two  centuries  before  it  was 
successfully  introduced  into  this  country.  Pre- 
vious to  1641  Solomon  de  Caus  conceived  the 
idea,  and  came  from  Normandy  to  Paris  to  urge 
his  design  upon  the  king.  He  suffered  for  his 
temerity  by  a  long  imprisonment  in  the  Bicetre. 
The  first  actual  model  of  a  steam  carriage  of 
which  we  have  any  account  was  constructed  by 
Cugnot,  and  exhibited  before  Marshal  de  Saxe 
in  1763.  In  1769  a  working  steam  carriage 
was  constructed  by  the  same  man,  which  is  still 
preserved  in  the  Conservatoire  des  Arts  et  Me- 
tiers in  Paris.  But  Richard  Trevithick,  a  cap- 
tain in  a  Cornish  tin  mine,  has  the  honor  of 
devising  the  first  steam  carriage  actually  used 
on  common  roads,  in  1802.  Some  ten  years 
later  Mr.  Blackett,  of  Wylan,  introduced  a  loco- 
motive upon  a  railroad  constructed  of  wooden 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  47 

rails  plated  with  cast  iron.*  These  rude  experi- 
ments paved  the  way  for  the  successful  introduc- 
tion of  steam  power  upon  the  English  railways 
by  George  Stephenson.  The  engines  of  this 
remarkable  inventor  had  been  in  operation  more 
than  ten  years  before  any  attempt  was  made  to 
introduce  them  into  this  country.  Still  their 
success  was  not  assured  until  1827,  when  the 
exhaust  steam  from  the  cylinders  was  applied 
through  a  blast  pipe  into  the  chimney,  to  in- 
crease the  draught  of  the  furnace.  This  im- 
provement increased  the  power  of  the  machine 
to  such  an  extent  as  to  attract  the  attention  of 
American  railroad  companies. 

"The  first  locomotives  in  the  United  States 
were  brought  over  from  England  by  Horatio 
Allen,  of  New  York,  in  the  fall  of  1829  or  the 
spring  of  1830;  and  one  of  them  was  set  up  on 
the  Delaware  and  Hudson  Railroad,  at  Carbon- 
dale,  Pa.,  but  being  found  too  heavy  for  the 
track,  its  use  was  abandoned.  The  first  loco- 
motive constructed  in  this  country  was  built  by 
the  West  Point  Foundry,  at  New  York,  in  1830, 
for  the  South  Carolina  Railroad,  and  named  the 

*  Smiles'  Life  of  Stephenson,  chap.  viii.     Also,  London  Builder, 
No.  1148. 


48  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Phoenix;  a  second  engine  was  built  the  same 
year,  by  the  same  establishment,  and  for  the 
same  road,  and  named  the  West  Point.  In  the 
spring  of  1831  a  third  engine  was  built  by  the 
same  establishment,  for  the  Mohawk  and  Hud- 
son Railroad  from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  and 
called  the  De  Witt  Clinton.  This  was  the  first 
.locomotive  run  in  the  State  of  New  York."* 

In  the  fall  of  1830,  it  was  announced  that  the 
Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  Company  had 
imported  a  locomotive,  which  was  jealously 
guarded  from  public  inspection,  in  a  storehouse 
near  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Baldwin  repaired  to 
the  spot  at  once  with  a  friend,  and  by  various 
devices  overcame  the  scruples  of  the  man  in 
charge  of  the  wonderful  curiosity.  He  care- 
fully observed  the  various  parts  of  the  machine, 
made  a  few  furtive  measurements,  and  at  last 
crept  under  the  ponderous  boiler.  Here  he 
remained  in  absorbing  study  for  nearly  half  an 
hour.  As  he  emerged  from  his  retreat  his  face 
was  glowing  with  enthusiasm,  and  he  exclaimed: 

"I  can  make  it!" 

His  companion  was  Franklin  Peale,  Esq., 
manager  of  the  Philadelphia  Museum,  who  had 

*  Journal  Franklin  Institute,  May,  1858,  p.  309. 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  49 

felt  so  much  confidence  in  his  skill  that  he  had 
given  him  previously  an  order  for  a  working 
model.  With  no  other  assistance  than  this 
hurried  inspection,  and  such  drawings  as  the 
scientific  journals  of  the  day  were  publishing, 
he  constructed  a  beautiful  miniature  locomotive, 
after  the  plan  of  Ericsson,  since  rendered  famous 
by  the  Monitors.  It  was  placed  on  a  circular 
track  in  the  Museum,  April  25th,  1831,  and 
attracted  crowds  of  visitors. 

His  success  with  this  model  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  the  bold  undertaking  of  introducing 
upon  American  railroads  a  better  locomotive 
than  the  few  rude  and  unmanageable  machines 
which  were  thus  far  employed.  Early  in  1832 
he  received  an  order  from  the  Philadelphia  and 
Germantown  Railroad  Company  for  one  small 
locomotive.  He  abandoned  the  single  upright 
cylinder  of  the  Ericsson  model,  and  introduced 
several  other  improvements  which  have  proved 
of  permanent  value.  His  drawings  were  quite 
as  original  as  if  he  had  never  seen  a  machine  of 
the  kind.  His  principal  attention  was  directed 
to  the  apparatus  for  generating  and  economizing 
steam. 

The  whole  work  on  this  memorable  pioneer 

7 


50  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

among  American  locomotives  occupied  about 
six  months.  It  was  driven  forward  under  a 
pressure  of  difficulties  which  would  have  dis- 
heartened a  less  determined  man.  Not  the  least 
of  these  was  the  lack  of  any  place  to  do  the 
heavy  forging.  The  only  blacksmith  shop  in 
the  factory  was  in  the  cellar,  and  all  the  un- 
wieldy work  on  the  engine  had  to  be  done  in 
other  establishments.  While  this  experiment 
was  still  in  progress,  he  had  contracted  for  a 
more  commodious  building  in  Lodge  Alley,  be- 
tween Seventh  and  Eighth  Streets,  with  a  con- 
siderable front  on  Market  Street.  He  contrived 
to  move  into  the  new  place  without  losing  a 
day  on  his  favorite  work,  and  here  the  running 
gears  were  attached  and  everything  made  ready 
for  the  grand  trial,  which  took  place  Nov.  23d, 
1832. 

The  United  States  Gazette  of  the  next  day 
contains  the  following  editorial  notice: — 

"A  most  gratifying  experiment  was  made 
yesterday  afternoon,  on  the  Philadelphia,  Ger- 
mantown,  and  Norristown  Railroad.  The  beau- 
tiful locomotive  engine  and  tender,  built  by  M. 
W.  Baldwin,  of  this  city,  whose  reputation  as 
an  ingenious  machinist  is  well  known,  were  for 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  51 

the  first  time  placed  on  the  road.  The  engine 
travelled  about  six  miles,  working  with  perfect 
accuracy  and  ease  in  all  its  parts,  and  with  great 
velocity." 

A  more  extended  notice  appears  in  the  Chro- 
nicle of  the  same  date : — 

"It  gives  us  pleasure  to  state  that  the  loco- 
motive engine  built  by  our  townsman,  M.  W. 
Baldwin,  has  been  proved  highly  successful.  In 
the  presence  of  several  gentlemen  of  science 
and  information  on  such  subjects,  the  engine 
was  yesterday  placed  upon  the  road  for  the  first 
time.  All  her  parts  had  been  previously  highly 
finished  and  fitted  together  in  Mr.  Baldwin's 
factory.  She  was  taken  apart  on  Tuesday,  and 
removed  to  the  Company's  depot,  and  yesterday 
morning  she  was  completely  together,  ready  for 
travel.  After  the  regular  passenger  cars  had 
arrived  from  Germantown  in  the  afternoon,  the 
tracks  being  clear,  preparation  was  made  for 
her  starting.  The  placing  fire  in  the  furnace 
and  raising  steam  occupied  twenty  minutes. 
The  engine  (with  her  tender)  moved  from  the 
depot  in  beautiful  style,  working  with  great 
ease  and  uniformity.  She  proceeded  about  half 
a  mile  beyond  the  Union  Tavern,  at  the  town- 


52  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

ship  line,  and  returned  immediately,  a  distance 
of  six  miles,  at  a  speed  of  about  twenty-eight 
miles  to  the  hour;  her  speed  having  been  slack- 
ened at  all  the  road  crossings,  and  it  being  after 
dark,  but  a  portion  of  her  power  was  used.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  the  spectators  were  delight- 
ed. From  this  experiment  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  this  engine  will  draw  thirty  tons  gross, 
at  an  average  speed  of  forty  miles  an  hour,  on  a 
level  road.  The  principal  superiority  of  the  en- 
gine over  any  of  the  English  ones  known,  con- 
sists in  the  light  weight — which  is  but  between 
four  and  five  tons — her  small  bulk,  and  the  sim- 
plicity of  her  working  machinery.  We  rejoice 
at  the  result  of  this  experiment,  as  it  conclusively 
shows  that  Philadelphia,  always  famous  for  the 
skill  of  her  mechanics,  is  enabled  to  produce 
steam  engines  for  railroads  combining  so  many 
superior  qualities  as  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
her  mechanics  will  hereafter  supply  nearly  all  the 
public  works  of  this  description  in  the  country." 

The  following  advertisement,  which  appeared 
in  Poulson's  American  Daily  Advertiser,  Nov.  26, 
1832,  will  be  read  with  no  little  amusement: — 

"NOTICE. — The  locomotive  engine  (built  by 
M.  W.  Baldwin,  of  this  city)  will  depart  daily 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  53 

when  the  weather  is  fair,  with  a  train  of  passenger 
cars.  On  rainy  days  horses  will  be  attached!" 

But  the  triumph  of  that  day  was  not  to  be 
unchallenged.  No  engineers  in  the  country  were 
prepared  to  run  the  new  machine.  There  was 
only  one  man  in  the  shop  besides  Mr.  Baldwin 
who  understood  her  construction  well  enough  to 
make  a  successful  trip  with  her.  He  was  taken 
sick  at  the  beginning  of  her  career.  Others 
were  tried,  and  soon  lost  all  patience  with  the 
intricate  work.  Day  after  day  the  President  of 
the  road,  who  insisted  from  the  first  that  there 
were  radical  defects  in  the  machine,  threatened 
to  condemn  the  work,  and  throw  it  back  on 
Mr.  Baldwin's  hands.  At  last  Mr.  Pettit  reco- 
vered, overhauled  the  abused  machinery,  and 
kept  his  place  at  the  helm  until  she  made  regu- 
lar trips,  and  gave  fair  satisfaction  to  her  builder 
and  purchasers. 

The  most  contradictory  statements  are  upon 
record  in  regard  to  the  Ironsides.  The  papers 
of  the  day  declare  that  she  made  a  mile  in  fifty- 
seven  seconds,  a  rate  of  over  seventy  miles  an 
hour!  Living  witnesses  insist  that  this  is  true, 
while  others  declare  that  the  run  was  less  than  a 
mile,  and  occupied  nearly  two  minutes.  The 


54  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

truth  probably  lies  between  the  two  extremes. 
She  was  undoubtedly  an  imperfect  machine, 
requiring  important  alterations  and  improve- 
ments, but  still  an  honor  to  any  machinist  as  a 
first  experiment,  and  better  adapted  to  her  de- 
sign than  any  other  American  locomotive  of 
that  date. 

One  of  the  very  few  moments  of  despondency 
in  his  whole  life  was  occasioned  by  the  ungra- 
cious reception  awarded  to  this  machine.  In 
the  spring  of  1833,  when  he  finally  received 
three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  for  his  work 
($coo  less  than  the  contract),  he  remarked  to 

\   TT  J  1  * 

one  of  his  apprentices  with  much  decision: 
"that  is  our  last  locomotive."  The  remark  was 
recalled  to  mind  when  the  same  apprentice, 
now  an  officer  in  the  factory,  happened  to  no- 
tice the  No.  1500  on  the  engine  erected  at  the 
time  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  death. 

But  other  inventors  were  already  in  the  field. 
A  receipt  on  the  books  of  the  same  Company 
shows  that  another  engine,  manufactured  at  the 
West  Point  Foundry,  was  purchased  in  April, 
1833.  And  a  very  flattering  notice  of  a  loco- 
motive named  "Pennsylvania,"  constructed  by 
Col.  Long,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  appears  in  the 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  55 

Daily  Chronicle  of  June  yth,  1833.  The  'Jour- 
nal of  the  Franklin  Institute  of  the  same  year 
describes  this  machine  as  running  on  the  Ger- 
mantown  Road  at  that  time. 

Whether  this  competition,  or  Mr.  Baldwin's 
principles  on  Temperance  and  other  reforms 
were  prejudicial  to  his  interests,  cannot  be  now 
ascertained.  But  it  is  certain  that  he  was  eager 
for  another  trial  long  before  he  received  his 
next  order.  Almost  two  years  had  intervened. 
Valuable  improvements  had  been  continually 
occurring  to  him.  He  was  so  impatient  to  set 
them  in  motion  that  he  would  have  taken  orders 
at  almost  any  pecuniary  loss.  He  would  always 
insist  upon  working  out  his  ideas  at  any  cost. 
His  next  engine  was  in  every  respect  a  great 
improvement  upon  the  Ironsides,  and  his  reputa- 
tion in  this  business  was  soon  firmly  established. 

Very  gradually  the  locomotive  business  began 
to  assume  the  first  importance  in  the  shop,  and 
to  make  even  the  immense  building  in  Lodge 
Alley  too  contracted.  Besides,  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  remove  the  structure  from  the 
shop  when  completed. 

In  1835,  after  some  nine  or  ten  locomotives 
had  been  completed  here,  the  final  move  was 


56  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

made  to  Broad  and  Hamilton  Streets.  The  new 
works  were  erected  with  a  view  to  throwing 
the  whole  strength  of  the  establishment  into 
this  one  article  of  manufacture  as  speedily  as 
possible. 

This  remarkable  confidence,  when  there  were 
few  railroads  and  fewer  locomotives  in  the  coun- 
try, was  justified  by  the  result.  He  continued 
to  make  stationary  engines  for  several  years  in 
the  new  shop;  and  in  1837  he  received  the 
contract  for  the  ponderous  machinery  of  the 
city  ice  boat,  which,  amid  difficulties  of  every 
kind,  he  finished  so  stanchly  that  they  have 
worn  out  one  hulk,  and  are  just  going,  almost 
without  repair,  into  another.  But  after  this  he 
began  to  decline  all  work,  except  upon  his 
favorite  locomotives. 

The  following  are  the  principal  improvements 
of  Mr.  Baldwin  up  to  the  year  1835.  Some  of 
them  have  not  proved  of  permanent  value,  but 
they  deserve  to  be  placed  on  record,  as  suggest- 
ive experiments,  and  steps  in  the  progress  which 
placed  him  finally  at  the  head  of  this  magnifi- 
cent enterprise  in  this  country. 

First:  The  guides  of  the  piston  were  made 
hollow,  and  the  cavities  were  used  for  the 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  57 

chambers  of  the  force-pumps  which  supply 
water  to  the  boiler ;  thus  giving  additional 
strength  to  the  guides  without  much  increase 
to  their  weight,  and  dispensing  entirely  with 
the  frame  and  fixture  of  the  ordinary  force- 
pump.  The  facilities  for  removing  and  cleansing 
the  valves,  and  preventing  the  danger  of  explo- 
sion, were  also  greatly  increased. 

Second :  The  motion  of  the  steam-valves  was 
reversed;  the  eccentrics  were  firmly  secured  to 
the  axle,  and  less  liable  to  get  loose  and  out  of 
repair.  The  treadle  and  its  appendages,  and  no 
less  than  four  rock-shafts,  with  the  complicated 
head-gear  of  the  English  method,  were  entirely 
dispensed  with.  The  rock-shafts  which  were 
retained  and  the  eccentric  banks  were  placed 
immediately  under  the  eye  and  within  the  reach 
of  the  engineer. 

Third :  Instead  of  fixing  the  ends  of  the  axle 
into  the  centres  of  the  driving-wheels,  he  dis- 
pensed with  one  of  the  arms  in  each  crank,  and 
attached  the  wheel  to  the  wrists  of  the  crank, 
with  its  centre  adjusted  to  the  centre  of  the 
axle.  The  power  of  the  engine  was  thus  applied 
directly  to  the  wheel,  without  the  intervention 
of  an  arm  of  the  crank,  thus  diminishing  the 


58  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

strain  upon  the  axle,  and  lessening  its  liability 
to  be  broken,  as  also  obviating  the  tendency  of 
the  driving-wheels  to  twist  upon  the  axle  and 
become  loose;  a  very  general  and  troublesome 
defect  in  previous  engines.  The  distance  be- 
tween the  two  cranks  was  also  thus  increased 
about  ten  inches,  which  admitted  of  a  corre- 
sponding enlargement  of  the  boiler,  and  of  a 
more  advantageous  disposition  of  the  weight  of 
the  fire-place,  by  bringing  it  about  fourteen 
inches  nearer  to  the  axle.  This  improvement 
has  never  been  abandoned  in  engines  which 
attach  the  connecting-rod  to  the  inside  of  the 
wheel,  and  paved  the  way  for  the  still  greater 
enlargement  of  the  boiler,  and  safety  of  the 
machinery,  by  the  external  attachment. 

Fourth.  The  steam-pipe  was  introduced  into 
the  boiler  through  the  opening  by  which  it 
usually  communicates  between  the  dome  and  the 
cylinders.  A  twofold  benefit  resulted:  (i.)  The 
pipe  could  be  made  without  a  joint  in  the  boiler. 
(2.)  The  "man-hole"  in  the  boiler  could  be 
dispensed  with ;  since  the  juncture  between  the 
dome  and  the  boiler,  as  well  as  all  other  steam 
joints,  being  accurately  fitted  by  grinding  and 
formed  without  cement  or  packing,  the  dome 


LOCOMOTIVE  BUILDING.  59 

could  be  easily  taken  off  and  replaced,  and  its 
aperture  used  for  occasional  access  to  the  inside 
of  the  boiler. 

Fifth.  In  the  construction  of  the  driving- 
wheels,  the  hubs  and  spokes  were  of  iron,  cast 
in  one  piece;  felloes  of  hard  wood  were  framed 
into  the  ends  of  the  spokes,  and  the  whole  was 
firmly  bound  together  by  a  stout  tire  of  wrought 
iron,  with  a  flange  on  its  inner  edge;  thus  by  a 
judicious  combination  of  iron  and  wood,  the 
strength  and  firmness  of  the  former  were  com- 
bined with  the  elasticity  of  the  latter.* 

*  Journal  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  April,  1835,  p.  245. 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEFICENCE. 

MR.  BALDWIN  began  his  work  upon  locomo- 
tives about  the  time  of  uniting  with  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  The  increasing  wealth  and  influ- 
ence which  the  successive  improvements  we  have 
now  described  afforded  him,  were  religiously 
consecrated  to  the  service  of  his  Master.  It  has 
often  been  conjectured  that  his  readiness  to  give 
industrious  young  men  a  hand  to  help  them  to 
independence,  and  his  splendid  works  of  charity, 
were  in  consequence  of  a  disposition  naturally 
generous.  Worldly  men  would  be  reluctant  to 
attribute  to  religion  the  whole  of  that  beautiful 
life  which  they  so  greatly  admired.  But  he  has 
explicitly  and  repeatedly  stated  that  the  great 
work  of  systematic  beneficence  which  he  carried 
on  through  life,  was  all  the  result  of  God's  grace 
in  his  heart.  "  I  feel  more  thankful  for  the  dis- 
position to  give  largely,  than  for  the  ability  to 
give  largely,"  he  often  said;  "for  I  know  that 
immense  wealth  can  be  acquired  a  great  deal 
easier  than  the  heart  to  use  it  well.  My  money 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEVOLENCE.  6 1 

without  a  new  heart  would  have  been  a  curse  to 
me." 

It  is  also  deeply  affecting  to  know  that  the 
fountain  of  this  grace  was  opened  in  his  heart 
by  a  great  sorrow.  This  is  one  of  the  very  few 
incidents  of  a  purely  domestic  character  which 
delicacy  to  the  living  does  not  forbid  to  be  re- 
corded. In  February,  1833,  the  little  home  in 
Tenth  Street  was  gladdened  by  the  birth  of  a 
bright  healthy  boy.  Other  sons  were  born  and 
died  in  early  infancy.  But  this  seemed  to  be 
the  child  of  promise.  He  passed  the  perils  of 
his  first  year  without  an  hour's  sickness.  And 
his  opening  character  seemed  to  be  as  perfect  as 
his  constitution.  He  was  one  of  those  absolutely 
faultless  children  who  always  make  loving  hearts 
vacillate  so  painfully  between  anxiety  and  fasci- 
nation. He  was  the  pride  and  joy  of  his  father. 
And  he  seemed  associated  in  some  way  with  his 
growing  experience  of  Christ's  love.  He  would 
often  climb  upon  his  lap  in  the  morning,  as  he 
was  reading  the  newspaper,  and  snatch  it  away 
indignantly  and  murmur — 

"No,  no,  papa!  Bible  first!  Bible  first,  papa!" 

The  good  man  would  press  the  precious  child 

to  his  heart  with  tears  and  thanksgivings  for  a 


62  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

little  Samuel  who  seemed  to  hear  the  voice  of 
God  more  clearly  than  himself. 

For  two  sweet  years,  the  happiest  of  his  life, 
this  new  affection  grew  into  his  most  sacred  pur- 
poses. But  one  night  in  February,  1835,  the  child 
seemed  restless ;  gasped  for  breath ;  the  moisture 
dried  upon  his  forehead ;  too  soon  it  was  evident 
that  he  was  suffering  with  a  severe  attack  of  the 
croup.  The  father  bent  over  him  in  speechless 
agony,  and  when  he  closed  his  eyes  forever,  the 
light  of  his  own  life  seemed  to  go  out  too. 
There  was  silence  and  darkness  in  that  home. 
Hampden  was  identified  with  everything.  La- 
bor, pleasure,  and  even  religion,  that  last  solace 
in  sorrow,  were  all  associated  with  the  loved  and 
lost.  Day  after  day  the  Bible  which  he  loved 
to  hear  papa  read  was  opened,  but  tears  hid  the 
words  of  heavenly  wisdom.  He  kneeled  down, 
but  missing  the  little  head  on  which  his  hands 
used  to  rest,  sobs  choked  his  utterance.  Every 
mention  of  the  beloved  name  made  him  live 
over  again  all  this  anguish.  At  last  they  tacitly 
agreed  to  be  silent.  Not  a  word  was  ever 
breathed  again  in  his  presence  of  this  over- 
whelming bereavement. 

But  the  trial  of  his  faith  was  precious.     From 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEVOLENCE.  63 

this  experience  of  sorrow  he  came  forth  to  his 
work  for  the  Master  with  a  consecration  of  heart 
he  had  never  felt  before.  And  the  offering  he 
made  in  memory  of  Hampden  was  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  charities  of  his  life.  Back  of 
his  house  was  a  little  alley  occupied  by  colored 
families.  Their  children  were  growing  up  in 
ignorance.  He  gathered  them  into  a  little 
school,  hired  the  rooms  himself,  and  for  years 
supported  the  teachers.  The  privileges  which 
his  son  would  never  need  were  given  to  the 
poor  and  the  neglected.  He  took  heed  all  his 
life  not  to  despise  the  little  ones. 

This  school  was  only  the  beginning  of  Mr. 
Baldwin's  labors  for  this  proscribed  race.  And 
about  the  year  1835  an  opportunity  occurred  for 
enlisting  the  co-operation  of  others,  and  greatly 
enlarging  his  usefulness.  A  colored  man  by  the 
name  of  Pompey  Hunt  was  exerting  a  marked 
influence  on  the  people  of  his  own  color  by  the 
natural  eloquence  peculiar  to  his  race.  He  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  several  members  of 
Mr.  Barnes'  church,  and  at  last  they  met  to  de- 
vise means  of  raising  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
dollars  a  year  to  support  Pompey  and  enable 
him  to  give  his  whole  time  to  Gospel  labor. 


64  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

They  debated  for  an  hour.  The  general  tone 
was  despondent.  At  last  Mr.  Baldwin  took  the 
floor: — 

"Brethren,  we  have  talked  long  enough.  It 
is  time  something  was  done.  We  need  not  ex- 
pect others  to  give  unless  we  set  them  the  ex- 
ample. I  have  laid  aside  twenty -five  dollars  for 
a  new  suit  of  clothes;  but  I  can  wear  my  old 
ones  one  winter  longer.  Put  my  name  down 
for  twenty-five." 

This  example  of  self-denial  changed  the  spirit 
of  the  meeting  in  an  instant.  The  paper  went 
round  again,  and  four  hundred  dollars  were  raised 
on  the  spot,  and  two  city  missionaries  were  em- 
ployed instead  of  one. 

This  was  the  origin  of  the  "Young  Men's 
Missionary  Association  of  the  First  Church." 
They  engaged  at  once  in.  the  distribution  of 
tracts,  and  the  support  of  zealous  laborers  among 
the  neglected  population  of  the  city.  Mr.  Bald- 
win is  justly  regarded  as  the  Father  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, and  its  life  and  spirit  from  the  beginning 
were  owing  to  his  own  self-denying  labors.  He 
would  never  suffer  an  opportunity  for  doing  good 
to  be  neglected  for  want  of  funds.  "  The  Lord 
has  opened  the  door.  We  must  enter  in.  He 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEVOLENCE.  65 

will  provide  the  means."  Often  he  has  given 
his  note  of  hand  for  hundreds  of  dollars,  when 
he  could  not  contribute  the  cash.  His  friends 
remonstrated  with  him  for  this  improvidence. 
But  he  always  replied:  "Nobody  hesitates  to 
sign  promises  to  pay  in  the  future,  in  order  to 
get  capital  for  business.  Are  we  to  trust  the 
Lord  to  take  care  of  our  affairs,  and  not  his 
own  ?"  It  was  simple  faith  in  God's  promises 
which  sustained  him  in  this  magnificent  work 
of  beneficence  from  the  beginning.  "Trust  in 
the  Lord  and  do  good,  and  verily  thou  shalt  be 
fed,"  he  always  felt  to  be  a  covenant  with  one 
who  could  not  fail. 

No  member  of  that  association  will  ever  for- 
get the  feeling  of  admiration  which  thrilled 
their  hearts  when  they  received  an  unexpected 
contribution  which  had  a  peculiar  history.  It 
seems  that  after  the  crisis  of  1837  business  began 
to  increase  again,  and  the  old  liabilities  were  all 
fully  redeemed,  except  one  note  which  could 
not  be  found.  After  searching  in  every  direc- 
tion for  it,  Mr.  Baldwin  brought  the  amount, 
with  interest  calculated  to  the  last  cent,  and 
paid  it  into  the  treasury  of  the  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation, simply  remarking  that  the  money  did 
9 


66  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

not  belong  to  him,  and  as  the  rightful  owner 
could  not  be  found,  he  inferred  that  "  the  Lord 
had  need  of  it." 

The  influence  of  the  few  simple  words  Mr. 
Baldwin  would  say  on  such  occasions,  and  of 
his  consistent  example,  was  incalculable  on  the 
whole  church.  The  habit  of  giving  largely  and 
systematically  had  not  yet  been  formed  in  any 
of  the  churches.  The  most  plain  and  earnest 
preaching  upon  this  duty  was  comparatively 
fruitless,  without  a  conspicuous  example  to  en- 
force the  Gospel  truth.  The  example  came  in 
this  instance  from  a  comparatively  poor  man, 
who  began  his  Christian  life  by  following  lite- 
rally the  commands  of  the  Bible.  This  natu- 
rally excited  jealousies,  many  misjudged  his  mo- 
tives in  surpassing  so  largely  the  contributions 
of  those  who  were  reputed  rich.  But  they 
lived  to  believe  him  conscientious  and  perfectly 
unostentatious  in  this  work.  And  his  "zeal 
provoked  many."  His  splendid  munificence  in 
after  years  did  not  exert  such  a  marked  influence 
on  others  as  the  constant  self-denial  of  these 
years  of  comparative  poverty.  It  is  estimated 
by  those  who  were  intimately  connected  with 
him  in  this  Association,  that  while  he  was  living 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEVOLENCE.  67 

in  the  little  Tenth  Street  house,  which  could 
have  been  rented  for  two  or  three  hundred  dol- 
lars, he  was  giving  away  ten  thousand  dollars  a 
year!  His  benevolence  then  was  actually  a  pre- 
judice to  his  interest,  when  he  needed  financial 
assistance.  Many  refused  to  honor  the  drafts  of 
a  man  who  would  make  donations  by  promissory 
notes.  But  it  is  refreshing  to  record  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  banks  of  the  city,  and  one  in 
particular,  took  a  more  Christian  view  of  the 
matter. 

"You  refuse  to  help  him,"  said  one  president 
to  another,  "because  he  does  not  know  what  to 
do  with  his  money.  We  will  stand  by  him 
because  he  is  determined  to  do  good  with  his 
money.  His  collaterals  are  God's  promises  /" 

The  systematic  plans  of  beneficence  organized 
in  this  Association  by  Mr.  Baldwin  have  been 
described  more  fully  than  his  private  charities 
because  they  are  matters  of  public  history,  and 
illustrate  his  wisdom  as  well  as  his  goodness  of 
heart.  But  it  must  not  be  understood  that  these 
efforts  were  suffered  to  interfere  with  the  daily 
appeals  for  the  relief  of  suffering.  This  is  a 
chapter  in  his  life  which  can  never  be  written. 
His  most  intimate  friends  know  nothing  of  the 


68  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

immense  sums  which  he  has  given  away  for  this 
purpose  in  the  course  of  his  life.  Indeed  his  own 
left  hand  never  knew  what  his  right  hand  was 
doing.  He  never  could  keep  any  money  in  his 
pocket.  On  arriving  at  his  office  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  first  business  was  often  to  dispatch  a 
clerk  to  pay  the  little  debts  he  had  contracted 
on  the  way  up. 

"Why,  Mr.  Baldwin!"  he  would  exclaim, 
"  why  do  you  always  run  round  the  city  without 
any  money  in  your  pocket?" 

"Well,  you  see,  I  met  my  pastor  on  Chest- 
nut Street  with  a  Western  Home  Missionary, 
who  wanted  to  get  a  little  money  to  buy  books 
for  his  library.  I  gave  him  all  I  had,  only  $50; 
little  enough,  I  'm  sure.  Then  I  had  a  contract 

to  sign  at  's,  and  no  money  to  secure  it. 

You  must  hand  him  $c.  I  had  to  take  a  hack 

TT  J 

to  the  prison  and  back ;  the  driver  is  waiting  for 
his  pay.  And  on  the  way  back  we  passed  a  lit- 
tle girl  bare-footed  this  cold  weather.  You 
must  pay  for  the  shoes  and  stockings  I  bought 
her  at 's.  What  a  blessing  that  my  cre- 
dit is  good !  They  all  seem  willing  to  trust  me, 
though  I  don't  know  them." 

There  was  no  such  thing  as  keeping  his  bank 


SYSTEMATIC  BENEVOLENCE.  69 

books  in  order.  After  everything  had  been 
nicely  balanced,  donation  checks  from  every 
direction  would  begin  to  come  in,  which  he 
had  forgotten.  One  day  a  gentleman  came  into 
the  Sabbath  School  of  which  Mr.  Baldwin  was 
Superintendent,  and  approached  him  with  an  air 
of  familiarity,  and  asked  the  privilege  of  solicit- 
ing contributions  for  an  object  which  he  had 
much  at  heart. 

"Who  is  that  man?"  asked  Mr.  Baldwin  of 
his  pastor  as  soon  as  he  could  see  him  alone. 

"Why,  don't  you  know  him?  He  says  you 
gave  him  $100  yesterday!'* 

"Ah,  well !  no  wonder  I  had  forgotten  him ; 
there  were  a  dozen  of  them  at  the  office  yester- 
day." 

These  private  appeals  became  so  numerous 
that  he  was  obliged  to  protect  fcis  repose  at 
home  by  making  the  rule  that  all  applications 
for  charity  must  be  made  at  his  place  of  busi- 
ness. Still,  the  rule  could  bend  sometimes,  as 
one  example  out  of  many  will  show.  He  was 
awakened  one  cold  winter  night  by  violent  ring- 
ing at  the  door.  As  soon  as  he  ascertained  the 
cause  he  dressed  himself,  and  giving  the  shiver- 
ing man  who  was  waiting  a  warm  overcoat, 


/O  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

went  with  him,  carrying  great  baskets  filled 
with  food  and  clothing.  He  found  a  family  in 
the  neighborhood  freezing  and  starving.  He 
made  them  comfortable,  furnished  the  father 
employment,  and  gave  thanks  to  God  that  his 
fellow  -  creatures  were  not  suffered  to  perish 
within  sight  of  his  own  door. 

Partly  to  prevent  the  distraction  of  his  mind 
from  the  more  systematic  plans  of  beneficence 
he  had  in  hand,  and  partly  to  discriminate  wisely 
between  imposition  and  worthy  objects  of  cha- 
rity, so  as  to  assure  the  relief  of  real  suffering, 
he  engaged  an  excellent  lady  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  to  visit  for  him  and  distribute  alms  to 
the  deserving.  A  volume  could  be  filled  with 
her  recollections  of  his  generosity. 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS. 

THE  locomotive  works  on  Broad  Street  had 
been  erected  at  a  time  of  great  apparent  pros- 
perity in  the  financial  community.  Money 
could  be  had  on  reasonable  terms ;  universal 
confidence  prevailed ;  prices  were  remunerative, 
and  industry  was  greatly  stimulated  throughout 
the  country.  The  new  establishment  began  its 
career  with  the  most  flattering  prospects.  But 
very  soon  these  sanguine  expectations  were  dis- 
appointed. The  immense  investments  and  the 
future  enterprise  of  the  business  seemed  to  be 
lost  beyond  recovery.  To  enable  the  present 
generation  to  understand  the  causes  of  this  dis- 
aster, and  to  appreciate  Mr.  Baldwin's  character 
when  subjected  to  this  trial,  a  brief  retrospect 
will  be  necessary. 

In  the  early  part  of  1832,  the  bill  to  recharter 
the  United  States  Bank  was  vetoed  by  President 
Jackson.  The  merits  of  the  question  were 
fairly  tried  before  the  people  at  the  Presidential 
election  in  the  fall,  and  the  President  was  sus- 


72  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

tained  and  re-elected  for  a  second  term.  Sept. 
1 8th,  1833,  he  laid  before  his  cabinet  the  deci- 
sion at  which  he  had  arrived,  and  in  which  the 
people  had  sustained  him,  as  he  believed,  to  re- 
move the  public  deposits  from  this  Bank.  "  It 
is  not  easy  for  one  who  was  not  a  living  witness 
of  the  fact,  to  realize  the  anxiety  and  alarm 
which  this  threat  excited  in  Philadelphia.  It 
was  known  to  all  that  the  average  amount  of 
these  deposits,  always  considerable,  had  contri- 
buted to  the  Bank's  loans  and  accommodations 
in  proportion  to  its  amount,  no  less  than  its 
capital ;  and  that  if  the  Bank  was  suddenly  called 
upon  to  return  this  money  to  the  Government, 
it  must  at  once  require  repayment  of  much 
which  it  had  previously  lent.  This  must  com- 
pel forced  sales  of  property  at  reduced  prices, 
ruinous  rates  of  interest,  and  all  the  mischiefs 
of  a  deficient  circulation.  These  evils,  indu- 
bitably great,  were  naturally  exaggerated  until 
the  whole  mercantile  community,  and  all  who 
sympathized  with  them,  without  distinction  of 
party,  were  thrown  into  as  great  a  panic  as  sud- 
den pecuniary  distress  could  produce."*  The 
most  excited  public  meetings  ever  held  in  the 

*  Tucker's  Hist.  U.  S.,  iv.  1 56. 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  73 

city  now  assembled  to  denounce  the  measure. 
Two  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  surrendered 
their  office  rather  than  carry  out  the  will  of  the 
President ;  so  that  the  actual  removal  of  the 
deposits  from  Philadelphia,  and  their  distribu- 
tion among  the  State  Banks  of  the  country,  did 
not  take  place  till  November,  1833.  The  Bank 
immediately  demanded  the  balances  due  it  from 
the  State  banks,  refused  discounts  to  individuals, 
and  called  for  repayments,  total  or  partial,  from 
all  who  had  been  formerly  accommodated. 

The  distress  in  all  the  commercial  towns  from 
the  scarcity  of  money  continued  throughout 
this  and  the  following  year.  But  early  in  1835, 
the  Bank  of  the  United  States  and  its  branches, 
finding  themselves  in  an  easy  condition  in  con- 
sequence of  the  large  importations  of  specie 
which  it  had  been  the  policy  of  the  Government 
to  encourage,  by  way  of  making  bank  paper 
less  necessary,  their  accommodations  were  pro- 
portionally large;  and  thus  the  measures  taken 
to  lessen  the  amount  of  bank  paper  in  circula- 
tion, served  actually  to  increase  it.  Money  be- 
ing thus  abundant,  a  spirit  of  speculation  began 
to  make  its  appearance  in  the  larger  cities,  and 
went  on  increasing  in  them  until  it  extended  to 
10 


74  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

the  smaller  towns,  and  finally  to  every  part  of 
the  country.  The  minds  of  the  people  seemed 
to  be  in  a  state  of  intoxication  from  greediness 
of  gain.  This  extravagance  continued  to  grow 
until  the  following  year,  the  local  banks  in 
every  part  of  the  country  expanding  their  issues 
so  as  to  keep  the  money  market  easy,  until  the 
prices  of  all  articles  of  manufacture  and  import- 
ation were  enormously  increased.  The  tide 
began  to  turn  in  1836,  when  the  prices  thus 
artificially  raised  by  borrowed  capital  began  to 
fall  yet  more  suddenly  than  they  had  ever  risen, 
and  thousands  who  had  indulged  in  dreams  of 
ideal  wealth  encountered  disappointment  and 
ruin.* 

The  cause  of  this  sudden  and  unexpected 
check  to  bank  issues  and  bank  credits,  and  the 
consequent  scarcity  of  money,  was  generally 
attributed  to  a  circular  from  the  Treasury  De- 
partment prohibiting  land  offices  from  receiving 
anything  but  specie  in  payment  for  public  lands 
after  August,  1836.!  In  a  few  months  the  gold 
and  silver  seemed  to  be  flowing  to  the  West, 
from  the  commercial  centres  of  trade.  Early 
in  April,  1837,  the  difficulties  had  augmented 

*  Tucker's  United  States,  iv.  230  -j-  Idem,  269. 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  75 

in  every  city  of  the  Union,  and  in  New  York 
there  were  strong  indications  that  a  crisis  was  at 
hand;  and  by  the  close  of  May  every  bank  in 
the  United  States  south  of  Boston,  whatever 
was  its  character  or  resources,  had  stopped  pay- 
ment. 

That  this  circular  was  the  immediate  occasion 
of  the  distress  is  undoubtedly  true.  But  it  must 
have  occurred,  though  somewhat  later,  as  a 
legitimate  result  of  the  excessive  issues  of  the 
banks;  of  their  increased  means  of  lending 
based  upon  the  deposits  of  the  Government  and 
the  influx  of  specie  induced  by  Jackson;  of  the 
wild  spirit  of  speculation  which  had  thereupon 
ensued;  and  of  the  corresponding  increase  in 
the  expensiveness  of  living  and  of  the  consump- 
tion of  foreign  luxuries. 

It  would  have  been  idle,  of  course,  for  Mr. 
Baldwin  to  attempt  to  meet  his  liabilities  at 
such  a  time.  The  suspension  of  specie  pay- 
ments by  the  Philadelphia  banks  on  the  nth  of 
May  was  followed  by  the  failure  of  a  number 
of  the  most  responsible  firms  in  the  city.  Con- 
sternation prevailed  everywhere.  The  orders 
which  had  been  received  at  the  works  were 
countermanded ;  payments  were  stopped  on 


j6  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

work  which  had  been  sent  out;  the  most  dis- 
heartening letters  came  pouring  in  from  debtors 
in  every  parfof  the  country.  In  a  short  time 
he  was  absolutely  helpless. 

He  called  a  meeting  of  his  creditors  as  soon 
as  he  ascertained  that  suspension  was  inevitable. 
They  came  together  in  alarm  and  suspicion, 
each  bringing  his  legal  adviser,  as  was  then  the 
custom.  What  was  their  amazement  to  see 
Mr.  Baldwin  enter  the  room  with  a  young  clerk 
bringing  the  papers  from  the  office.  He  laid 
before  them,  in  the  most  lucid  manner,  an  exact 
statement  of  his  assets  and  liabilities.  He  nei- 
ther concealed  nor  exaggerated.  With  valuations 
as  they  stood  before  the  crash,  he  proved  that 
he  could  make  them  good.  At  present,  he 
candidly  admitted  that  a  forced  sale  would  not 
pay  them  twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar. 
"  But  the  property  belongs  to  you/'  he  added. 
"  My  factory  and  my  house,  and  everything  in 
them  and  about  them  are  yours.  I  release  to 
you,  and,  if  you  desire,  will  make  over  to  you 
at  once,  everything  I  possess  on  earth.  Make 
an  inventory  of  all  my  effects,  consider  them 
yours ;  then  make  up  your  mind  what  you  will 
do  with  them.  If  you  cannot  come  to  a  satis- 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  JJ 

factory  conclusion,  I  have  something  to  propose 
for  our  mutual  advantage." 

What  could  the  lawyers  do  with  such  a  man  ? 
They  were  prepared  for  subterfuge;  but  such 
straight-forward  talk  took  away  their  occupa- 
tion. The  creditors  began  to  think  they  might 
have  left  their  legal  gentlemen  at  home.  The 
inventory  was  speedily  made.  Nothing  was  kept 
back.  All  the  family  treasures  were  brought 
out  of  their  cherished  retreats  to  have  the  auc- 
tioneer's price  set  upon  them.  It  was  a  sad 
time  in  the  Tenth  Street  house.  But  they  were 
all  sustained  by  the  spirit  of  stern  integrity 
which  animated  the  principal  sufferer.  When 
the  work,  with  all  its  harrowing  details,  was 
completed,  the  results  were  found  to  be  as  he 
had  predicted.  A  peremptory  sale  would  ruin 
him,  and  pay  them  a  pittance  of  their  just  claims. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "you  are  prepared  for  my 
proposition:  Let  me  go  on  with  the  business, 
and^I  will  pay  you  every  dollar,  with  interest, 
in  three  years!  I  don't  ask  for  an  abatement  of 
one  cent.  Give  me  an  extension  of  three  years, 
and  you  shall  be  fully  reimbursed.  I  have  no 
right  to  do  this  without  your  consent,  for  the 
property  is  yours.  But  say  the  word,  and  if  my 


78  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

life  is  spared,  every  paper  you  hold  against  me 
shall  be  redeemed." 

They  took  him  at  his  word.  Then  came 
such  a  struggle  as  few  men  have  been  called 
upon  to  endure.  The  gravest  difficulty  was  one 
which  appealed  to  his  feeling  of  humanity;  the 
want  of  ready  money  to  pay  his  workmen.  He 
could  obtain  acceptances  of  his  note  for  mate- 
rials; but  money  could  not  be  had  in  the  mar- 
ket. He  was  obliged  to  resort  to  the  expedient 
which  had  already  begun  to  flood  the  city  with 
private  and  depreciated  currency.  A  few  days 
after  the  suspension,  the  "blue  ink"  notes  of 
twenty-five  and  fifty  cents  began  to  be  issued. 
"Loan  Companies,"  many  of  them  voluntary 
and  unchartered,  were  printing  and  distributing 
promises  to  pay  in  sums  as  low  as  six  and  a 
quarter  cents.  Private  companies  were  obliged 
to  make  the  same  shifts.  Mr.  Baldwin  would 
not  consent  to  imitate  the  measures  which  in 
too  many  instances  were  fraudulent.  He  ar- 
ranged with  dealers  in  provisions,  coal,  and  the 
most  necessary  articles  of  domestic  life,  to  re- 
ceive small  orders  from  his  office,  and  take  his 
note  for  the  sum  when  it  had  accumulated. 
For  a  long  time  these  orders  formed  the  only 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  79 

money  his  men  could  use.  But  he  animated 
them  all  with  his  own  confidence.  When  they 
saw  that  he  asked  no  sacrifice  of  them  which 
his  own  family  did  not  cheerfully  share,  they 
endured  their  privations  with  an  alacrity,  and 
worked  with  an  energy  which  was  perfectly 
inspiring.  Some  of  those  who  had  saved  their 
earnings  in  the  "poor  man's  bank,"  the  old 
cupboard  at  home,  were  able  to  let  their  wages 
accumulate  now,  and  receive  his  note  for  large 
sums.  Few  of  them  ever  tried  to  dispose  of 
this  paper.  They  had  confidence  that  it  would 
be  as  good  as  gold  in  time.  One  old  man,  now 
in  the  establishment,  remembers  this  to  his  cost. 
He  had  let  his  earnings  accumulate  until  he 
found  himself  holding  Mr.  Baldwin's  notes  to 
the  amount  of  four  hundred  dollars.  He  hap- 
pened to  want  the  money  when  it  could  not  be 
had  at  head-quarters,  and  nobody  would  buy  it 
without  a  shave  of  some  twenty  per  cent.  At 
last  he  was  foolish  enough  to  invest  in  a  land 
speculation.  He  lost  every  cent  of  it,  and  had 
the  chagrin  into  the  bargain  to  see  it  paid  at 
the  counter  afterwards,  with  full  interest. 

The   success   of  these    manly  endeavors  was 
surprising.     And  a  gradual  relief  to  the  finan- 


8o  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

cial  pressure  came  to  his  assistance  more  speedily 
than  could  have  been  expected.  In  August, 
1838,  many  of  the  banks  resumed  payment,  and 
Mr.  Baldwin  began  to  call  in  some  of  the  claims 
against  him.  But  one  constitutional  defect  in 
his  character  had  betrayed  him  into  imprudence 
in  this  difficulty.  He  was  always  too  fond  of  a 
favorite  idea,  and  so  eager  to  realize  it  that  his 
determination  verged  upon  obstinacy.  He  had 
hastily  promised  to  pay  all  in  three  years,  and 
toward  the  close  of  the  specified  period  he  be- 
gan to  cripple  his  business  to  fulfil  the  letter  of 
his  engagement.  Another  disaster  in  the  finan- 
cial world  added  to  his  embarrassments.  The 
resumption  of  specie  payments  by  the  city  banks 
was  found  to  be  premature,  as  many  of  them 
had  feared,  and  another  suspension  followed  in 
October,  1839,  occasioned  by  the  sudden  failure 
of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  With  great 
reluctance,  and  with  a  humiliation  which  he 
bitterly  felt,  he  was  obliged  to  acknowledge 
himself  in  difficulty  again,  and  ask  for  another 
extension.  It  was  readily  granted,  and  by  1841 
or  '2  he  cancelled  every  obligation.  It  was  a 
magnificent  triumph! 

It  was  probably  in  one  of  these  embarrass- 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  8  I 

ments  that  a  capitalist  in  New  Jersey  offered 
him  money  on  condition  that  a  son  of  his  should 
be  received  as  a  partner.  He  agreed,  and  for  a 
time  all  went  prosperously;  but  before  long  his 
difficulties  were  as  great  as  ever.  His  partner's 
father  sent  for  him,  and  proposed  that  a  judg- 
ment should  be  confessed  by  the  firm  in  his 
favor,  under  which  a  sheriff's  sale  would  take 
place,  and  he  become  the  purchaser.  Mr.  Bald- 
win rose  in  great  indignation,  and  exclaimed : — 

"  Mr. ,  if  this  is  all  you  have  to  say  to 

me,  you  might  have  saved  your  breath.  You 
shall  never  have  the  slightest  advantage  over  my 
smallest  creditor  on  account  of  your  connection 
with  the  firm!" 

It  would  be  an  indignity  offered  to  the  me- 
mory of  this  noble  man,  to  claim  that  all  this 
was  anything  more  than  strict  honesty.  But 
there  have  been  times  when  honesty  was  more 
heroic  than  magnanimity  would  be  now.  The 
crisis  of  1837  was  one  of  those  times.  The 
most  honorable  merchants,  and  even  presidents 
of  the  banks,  were  repeatedly  indicted  for  em- 
bezzlements. In  fact  the  grand  jury  were  pub- 
licly charged  with  sitting  as  a  secret  inquisition, 
and  bringing  in  indictments  against  the  best 
ii 


82  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

citizens,  without  any  previous  examination.  The 
consternation  was  so  universal  that  men  of  un- 
tarnished reputation  ceased  to  be  surprised  to 
find  themselves  accused  of  crime.  Neighbors 
used  to  meet  one  another  on  the  street,  and  ac- 
tually burst  into  tears,  exclaiming :  "  How  hard 
it  is  to  be  an  honest  man  in  these  times!" 

How  was  he  enabled  to  achieve  such  a  tri- 
umph in  those  straitened  times?  By  diligence, 
by  the  fascination  of  his  courage  animating  all 
his  associates,  by  carrying  those  burdens  of  his 
business  always  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  and  re- 
ceiving there  a  refreshment  of  spirit  which  filled 
the  darkest  day  with  the  repose  of  unfaltering 
faith  in  God,  and,  above  all,  by  another  principle 
of  his  religion — by  never  arresting  his  charities 
during  his  financial  embarrassments.  Would  to 
God  that  every  Christian  man  of  business  could 
feel  the  force  of  his  example  in  this  respect! 
He  believed  that  his  charities  in  times  of  diffi- 
culty were  his  best  investments.  Notes  for 
thousands  of  dollars  had  been  repeatedly  given 
away,  when  he  had  no  money  for  donations. 
"Shall  we  trust  God  for  our  affairs,  and  not  for 
His  own?"  he  would  ask,  when  charged  with 
imprudence.  "  How  can  I  expect  life  and  pros- 


THE  GREAT  FINANCIAL  CRISIS.  83 

perity  to  meet  my  present  liabilities,  if  I  handle 
this  immense  capital,  and  suffer  none  of  its  in- 
come to  flow  into  the  Lord's  treasury?" 

"How  rich  he  would  have  been  if  he  had  not 
given  so  much  away!"  you  will  hear  on  every 
man's  lips.  False!  He  might  have  died  in 
poverty!  It  was  his  liberality  united  with  his 
unwearied  enterprise  which  secured  his  fortune. 
The  testimony  of  God,  which  he  always  pre- 
ferred to  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  is  vindicated 
in  this  return  to  his  bosom  of  the  good  measure, 
pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  running  over. 


THE    CONVENTION    OF    1837-8,    AND 
THE  ANTI-SLAVERY  EXCITEMENT. 

WHILE  thus  perplexed  with  his  own  financial 
embarrassments,  Mr.  Baldwin  was  called  to  new 
duties  in  the  service  of  his  country.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Convention  called  to  meet  in  Har- 
risburg  on  May  2d,  1837,  to  amend  the  State 
Constitution.  He  tried  in  vain  to  decline  this 
honor.  His  financial  troubles,  the  contract  to 
furnish  the  engines  for  the  ice  boat,  and  his  yet 
incomplete  experiments  with  the  locomotives 
for  heavy  draft,  rendered  his  personal  attention 
to  business  imperative,  in  his  own  opinion.  But 
his  fellow- citizens  felt  they  could  not  dispense 
with  his  practical  wisdom,  and  firm  adherence 
to  principle,  on  this  important  occasion.  With 
great  reluctance  he  laid  aside  his  own  interests 
to  sit  among  the  councillors  of  the  common- 
wealth. 

The  two  great  questions  which  engaged  the 
attention  of  this  Convention  concerned  the  judi- 
ciary and  the  right  of  suffrage. 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  85 

By  the  Constitution  of  1790  the  judges  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  of  the  several  Courts  of 
Common  Pleas  were  appointed  by  the  Governor, 
and  held  their  office  during  good  behavior,  sub- 
ject to  removal  for  any  reasonable  cause,  on  the 
address  of  two-thirds  of  each  branch  of  the 
legislature.  A  so-called  "  reform"  was  introduced 
by  this  Convention,  providing  that  these  judges 
should  be  appointed  by  the  Governor,  by  and 
with  the  advice  of  the  Senate,  and  should  hold 
their  office  for  limited  terms,  not  exceeding  fif- 
teen years  in  the  case  of  the  judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.* 

This  supposed  reform  prepared  the  way  for 
more  radical  changes  in  1850,  by  which  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  were  elected  by 
the  qualified  electors  of  the  commonwealth  at 
large,  and  all  other  judges  by  electors  of  the 
respective  districts  over  which  they  were  to  pre- 
side or  act  as  judges. f 

A  large  majority  of  the  Convention  favored 
the  proposed  changes.  But  there  was  a  deter- 
mined minority,  who  steadily  resisted  these  en- 

*  Proceedings  and  Debates  of  the  Convention,  xin.  241. 
f  Purdon's  Digest,  p.  18. 


86  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

croachments  on  what  they  believed  to  be  the 
integrity  of  the  judiciary.  We  find  Mr.  Bald- 
win's name  always  with  these  conservatives.  He 
voted  against  every  amendment  to  the  fifth  ar- 
ticle of  the  old  Constitution.* 

The  other  question  has  since  acquired  a  na- 
tional importance,  and  is  destined  to  rise  above 
every  other  in  the  politics  of  the  country;  but 
it  is  one  surrounded  with  the  gravest  difficulties, 
which  have  thus  far  baffled  many  of  the  most 
eminent  statesmen  of  this  nation  and  of  England. 
Shall  there  be  any  limit  to  the  exercise  of  the 
right  of  suffrage  in  a  free  government?  If  so, 
shall  this  limit  be  based  upon  property,  or  intel- 
ligence, or  both  ?  And  is  this  a  question  of  po- 
litical privileges  exclusively,  or  do  moral  prin- 
ciples enter  into  it  founded  upon  the  natural 
rights  of  man?  These  are  among  the  mo- 
mentous problems  of  modern  reform  agitating 
every  constitutional  government  on  earth.  We 
shall  be  interested  to  know  how  they  were  met 
thirty  years  ago  by  an  intelligent  mechanic, 
without  legal  erudition,  but  with  a  conscience 
impervious  to  error  and  acutely  sensitive  to  the 
truth. 

*  XIII.  48. 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  87 

The  Constitution  of  1790  provided  that: — 
"  Every  freeman  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
having  resided  in  the  State  two  years  next  before 
an  election,  and  within  that  time  paid  a  State  or 
county  tax,  shall  enjoy  the  right  of  an  elector."* 

The  first  motion  to  modify  this  article  was 
made  by  Mr.  Steriger,  of  Montgomery  County, 
June  i pth,  1837.  He  proposed  to  substitute  for 
"freeman"  the  words  "free  male  white  citizen."^ 
Finding  that  this  was  about  to  provoke  a  discus- 
sion too  violent  for  this  early  period  in  the  ses- 
sion, the  friends  of  the  amendment  suffered  the 
debate  to  be  diverted  to  other  subjects.  But  Mr. 
Martin,  of  Philadelphia,  a  few  days  later,  en- 
deavored to  secure  the  same  principle  by  means 
of  the  following  proviso:  "Provided  that  the 
rights  of  electors  shall  in  no  case  extend  to 
others  than  free  white  male  citizens.''^  In  the 
course  of  the  debate  upon  this  amendment  the 
assertion  was  repeatedly  made  that  negroes  never 
did  vote  under  the  old  constitution,  "public 
opinion  rising  above  law,  and  driving  them  from 
the  polls  with  violence."  But  this  statement 
was  met  with  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that 

*  Art.  in.,  Sec.  ist.          |  Vol.  n.  472.          J  Vol.  in.  82. 


88  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

in  many  parts  of  the  State  the  franchise  was 
peacefully  exercised  by  colored  men,  some  of 
them  among  the  most  intelligent  and  wealthy 
citizens  of  their  districts.  But  all  modifications 
of  this  nature  were  finally  excluded  from  the 
report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  not  so 
much  on  the  merits  of  the  question  as  from  the 
desire  to  avoid,  at  this  early  day,  the  agitation 
of  the  subject. 

The  question  came  up  for  final  decision,  Jan. 
1 7th,  1838,  when  the  second  reading  of  the 
Third  Article,  as  reported  by  the  Committee 
of  the  Whole,  was  ordered;  Mr.  Martin  again 
moved  the  insertion  of  the  word  "white"  before 
"freeman." 

The  debate  which  ensued  was  continued  in- 
cessantly and  with  great  excitement,  covering 
the  whole  question  of  American  slavery,  the  pro- 
scription of  a  race,  and  the  rights  of  manhood, 
until  the  vote  was  reached,  on  Saturday,  January 
2oth.  The  amendment  was  sustained  by  a  vote 
of  77  to  45.  Among  the  forty-five  men  who 
had  the  courage  and  the  conscience  to  vote  for 
impartial  suffrage,  thirty  years  ago,  we  find 
M.  W.  Baldwin  * 

*  X.  106. 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  89 

One  more  attempt  was  made  to  save  the  State 
from  this  disgrace.  It  was  an  amendment  by 
Mr.  Dunlap,  of  Franklin,  to  the  effect  that  "any 
citizen  excluded  by  the  word  'white'  may  ac- 
quire the  right  of  suffrage  whenever  he  shall  be 
possessed  of  a  freehold  worth  two  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  shall  have  paid  a  tax  on  the  same;  and 
that  no  male  person  of  full  age,  not  entitled  to 
the  rights  of  suffrage,  shall  be  subject  to  direct 
taxation."*  It  was  urged  that  a  property  quali- 
fication of  this  kind  would  protect  the  State  from 
the  dangers  which  had  been  described  of  vagrant 
and  idle  negroes  controlling  the  elections;  and 
the  injustice  of  taxation  without  representation 
was  forcibly  represented.  But  this  amendment 
was  lost  by  a  vote  of  40  to  84,  Mr.  Baldwin 
voting  in  the  affirmative. 

Once  more  the  effort  was  made,  on  motion  of 
Mr.  Merrill,  of  Union,  to  grant  the  right  of  suf- 
frage to  free  citizens  of  color  "who  could  read 
and  understand  common  books,  and  were  also 
subject  to  taxation. "f  It  was  insisted  that  both 
property  and  intelligence  were  safeguards  which 
could  not  fail  to  protect  this  right  from  abuse. 
A  final  appeal  was  made  to  save  the  Keystone 

*  x.  no.  f  x-  Iz6- 

12 


90  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

State  from  this  grave  injustice.  But  in  vain.  At 
every  vote  the  friends  of  impartial  justice  were 
falling  away.  This  amendment  was  lost,  26  to 
91,  Mr.  Baldwin  still  voting  in  the  affirmative. 

On  the  final  question  to  agree  to  the  report  of 
the  Committee  of  the  Whole,  which  was  reached 
January  22,  1838,  Mr.  Baldwin  voted  in  the 
negative.  Thus,  during  the  whole  of  this  ex- 
citing question,  occupying  the  minds  of  the  Con- 
vention during  many  days  of  a  protracted  session, 
his  votes  were  invariably  with  that  unpopular, 
conservative  party,  who  believed  that  all  men 
were  born  free  and  equal.  Yet  he  lived  to  be 
denounced  as  a  radical  for  holding  the  same 
views ! 

It  was  conscience,  and  religious  principle,  and 
faith  in  God,  which  sustained  him  in  this  strug- 
gle. His  closet,  the  family  altar,  and  his  pastor's 
study,  witnessed  the  fervor  of  his  prayer  for  Di- 
vine guidance  as  the  day  of  trial  approached. 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Baldwin  will  not  need  to 
be  told  that  he  was  not  a  talking  member  of  this 
Convention.  While  his  own  convictions  of  duty 
were  decided,  he  had  no  confidence  in  his  ability 
to  make  them  felt  by  public  speech.  He  threw 
the  whole  weight  of  his  influence  in  favor  of 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  91 

preserving  the  integrity  of  the  laws,  and  the  im- 
partial rights  of  manhood.  But  it  was  by  per- 
sonal conversation,  and  consistent  voting,  that  he 
made  this  influence  felt.  During  the  two  pro- 
tracted sessions  of  the  Convention,  he  rose  to  his 
feet  but  once  in  the  public  debate.  It  was  at  the 
first  meeting  after  the  removal  from  Harrisburg 
to  Philadelphia,  on  Tuesday,  November  28th, 
1837.  The  question  before  the  house  was  a  reso- 
lution of  Mr.  Denny,  of  Alleghany,  that  "the 
clergy  of  the  city  be  invited  to  open  the  sessions 
of  the  Convention  with  prayer."  Considerable 
opposition  was  at  once  developed.  Many  who 
were  in  favor  of  religious  exercises,  among  others, 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  who  "thought  prayer  very 
much  needed,"  objected  on  the  ground  that 
members  had  been  reluctant  to  pay  any  remune- 
ration for  similar  services  in  Harrisburg. 

The  debate  soon  turned  upon  the  question  of 
compensation,  when  Mr.  Baldwin  took  the  floor. 
He  said  he  felt  authorized  to  say  that  the  gen- 
tlemen who  tendered  their  services  here  did  not 
expect  to  receive  any  compensation.  Indeed,  he 
believed  it  was  the  intention  of  those  gentlemen 
to  disclaim  compensation  if  it  was  tendered  to 
them.  He  did  not  believe  they  would  receive  it. 


92  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

He  hoped,  therefore,  that  this  consideration 
would  not  be  thrown  in  the  way  as  an  obstacle 
against  the  proposition  to  open  the  session  with 
prayer.  He  must  confess  that  he  felt  some  sur- 
prise at  the  fears  which  had  been  expressed  by 
some  gentlemen,  in  relation  to  the  conscientious 
scruples  of  certain  members  of  this  body  on  reli- 
gious matters;  for,  when  the  question  of  consci- 
entious scruples  was  fairly  before  them^in  another 
and  not  less  imposing  form,  some  of  them  did 
not  manifest  quite  so  sensitive  a  disposition.  All 
that  was  contemplated  by  this  resolution  was, 
that  we  might  each  morning  ask  the  blessing  of 
Almighty  God  on  the  labors  of  the  Convention. 
He  could  not  conceive  what  reasonable  objection 
could  be  made  to  this  proposition  by  any  gen- 
tleman, however  sensitive  might  be  his  feelings, 
or  however  peculiar  the  religious  doctrines  which 
he  held.* 

These  few  remarks  were  subsequently  referred 
to  by  almost  every  gentleman  on  the  floor,  and 
the  motion  was  carried  in  the  affirmative.  The 
allusion  to  the  "conscientious  scruples"  of  men 
who  had  not  hesitated  to  disfranchise  their  fel- 
low-citizens on  account  of  the  color  of  their 

*  Proceedings  and  Debates  of  Convention,  vi.  7. 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  93 

skin  was,  perhaps,  the  nearest  approach  to  sar- 
casm which  Mr.  Baldwin  ever  made  on  any 
public  occasion. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  appreciate  the  courage 
of  Mr.  Baldwin,  and  the  "conservative"  minority 
with  whom  he  voted,  without  reference  to  the 
then  existing  state  of  public  opinion  which  ren- 
dered their  action  so  unpopular.  The  whole 
country  was  in  abject  submission  to  the  slave 
power.  The  expression  of  anti-slavery  senti- 
ments was  everywhere  suppressed  by  violence. 
"  The  right  of  free  discussion,"  wrote  John 
Quincy  Adams,*  "upon  slavery,  and  an  indefinite 
extent  of  topics  connected  with  it,  is  banished 
from  one-half  the  States  of  this  Union.  It  is 
suspended  in  both  houses  of  Congress — opened 
and  closed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  slave  represen- 
tatives; opened  for  the  promulgation  of  nulli- 
fication sophistry;  closed  against  the  question 
WHAT  IS  SLAVERY?  at  the  sound  of  which 
the  walls  of  the  capitol  stagger  like  a  drunken 
man.  For  this  suppression  of  the  freedom  of 
speech,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  of  the 
right  of  petition,  the  people  of  the  FREE  States 
are  responsible,  and  the  people  of  Pennsylvania 

*  History  of  Pennsylvania  Hall,  Phila.,  1838,  p.  n. 


94  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

most  of  all.  Of  this  responsibility,  I  say  it  with 
a  pang  sharper  than  language  can  express,  the 
City  of  Philadelphia  must  take  to  herself  the 
largest  share.  Her  citizens  have  grown  exceed- 
ingly averse  to  hearing  any  comment  upon  the 
self-evident  truths  which  emanated  from  her 
Independence  Hall.  If  a  man  makes  any  prac- 
tical use  of  his  freedom  of  speech  among  them, 
they  cry  out,  'He's  a  fanatic,  an  incendiary,  an 
abolitionist;  he  is  attacking  the  rights  of  the 
South/" 

A  single  example  will  set  forth  the  extent  to 
which  this  pro-slavery  violence  was  carried  in 
Philadelphia.  The  occasion  which  called  forth 
this  indignant  letter  of  Adams'  was  the  dedica- 
tion of  an  imposing  edifice  erected  on  the  corner 
of  "Delaware  Sixth  and  Haines  Streets,"  for  free 
discussion  upon  Liberty  and  the  Rights  of  Man. 
The  opening  exercises  were  continued  for  several 
days,  and  the  tone  of  the  meeting  soon  gave  un- 
mistakable evidence  that  free  speech  in  this  city 
was  too  great  a  luxury  not  to  be  highly  relished. 

By  evening  of  the  second  day  large  crowds 
'had  begun  to  collect  around  the  building,  and  a 
few  stones  were  thrown  at  the  windows.  The 
morning  of  the  third  day  was  devoted  to  free 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  95 

discussion  on  Slavery  and  its  Remedies.  The  ex- 
citement was  intense,  but  upon  the  announce- 
ment that  several  ladies  would  make  addresses  in 
the  evening,  the  evidences  of  an  approaching 
tumult  became  unmistakable.  The  hall  was 
thronged  long  before  the  hour  for  the  exercises 
to  begin.  Volleys  of  stones  were  thrown  against 
the  windows,  and  disorganizers  within  made  re- 
peated efforts  to  frighten  the  audience.  Mean- 
time placards  had  been  posted  all  over  the  city, 
calling  upon  all  citizens  who  desired  to  preserve  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  interfere  forcibly 
and  demand  the  immediate  dispersion  of  the  Convention. 
The  evidence  was  afterwards  collected,  which 
proved  beyond  doubt  that  the  destruction  of  the 
hall  had  been  resolved  upon,  before  it  was  com- 
pleted. The  disturbances  on  Wednesday  evening 
had  been  so  violent  that,  on  Thursday  morning, 
the  managers  informed  the  Mayor  that  they  an- 
ticipated the  attacks  of  a  mob,  and  demanded  his 
protection  of  life  and  property ;  at  the  same  time, 
in  accordance  with  their  well-known  principles 
as  Friends,  they  resolved  to  make  no  resistance, 
if  violence  should  be  offered.  The  Mayor  made 
no  reply  to  their  communication,  and  left  the 
hall  to  the  incendiaries  during  the  whole  day, 


96  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

without  taking  any  measures  to  preserve  order. 
About  sunset  he  informed  the  President  of  the 
Board  of  Managers  that  he  would  disperse  the 
mob,  if  he  could  have  possession  of  the  building. 
The  keys  were  at  once  delivered  to  him.  He 
then  addressed  the  mob,  informing  them  that 
there  would  be  no  meeting  there  on  that  evening, 
that  the  military  would  not  be  called  out,  that 
he  relied  upon  his  fellow-citizens  now  before 
him  as  his  police,  and  requested  them  to  abide 
by  the  laws  and  keep  order.  The  mob  then  gave 
three  cheers  for  John  Swift,  the  Mayor,  and  com- 
menced the  attack.  They  forced  open  the  doors, 
and,  carrying  papers  and  window  blinds  forward, 
made  a  bonfire  on  the  Speaker's  stand.  In  a  few 
hours  the  magnificent  building  was  entirely  con- 
sumed. It  was  estimated  that  1 5,000  spectators 
witnessed  this  scene.  The  firemen  were  busy 
protecting  neighboring  buildings.  But  no  hand 
was  raised  to  save  the  Hall.*  The  unresisted 
and  infuriated  mob  then  set  fire  to  an  orphan 
asylum  for  colored  children,  on  Thirteenth 
Street,  a  charitable  institution,  having  no  con- 
nection with  the  Anti-Slavery  Society;  and,  on 
Saturday  evening,  attacked  the  Bethel  Church 

*  Tucker's  History  of  the  U.  S.,  iv.  336. 


THE  CONVENTION  OF  1837-8.  97 

for  colored  people,  on  Sixth  Street,  and  threat- 
ened the  private  dwellings  of  several  citizens, 
and  the  office  of  the  Public  Ledger,  which, 
though  not  an  abolition  paper,  had  been  an  ad- 
vocate of  free  discussion,  and  had  expressed  itself 
in  manly  terms  of  disapprobation  of  the  burning 
of  the  hall. 

This  was  the  time,  be  it  remembered,  when 
Mr.  Baldwin  voted  incessantly  for  negro  suffrage, 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.  "Public  opinion," 
said  Mayor  Swift,  "makes  mobs.  Ninety-nine 
citizens  out  of  a  hundred,  in  Philadelphia,  are 
against  the  abolitionists."  Our  war  has  since  re- 
versed this  public  opinion:  ninety-nine  out  of 
a  hundred  have  become  abolitionists.  But  many 
of  the  best  of  these  men  still  believe  it  to  be  im- 
prudent to  urge  the  impartial  exercise  of  the 
right  of  suffrage.  But,  in  Philadelphia,  at  the 
very  time  when  the  prejudice 'against  the  negro 
restrained  the  citizens  and  the  civil  authorities 
from  interfering  to  prevent  a  most  flagrant  out- 
rage upon  public  order,  when  threats  of  violence 
were  openly  made  to  intimidate  the  Convention, 
when  he  was  ostracized  by  reason  of  these  prin- 
ciples from  the  best  society  of  the  city  his  enter- 
prise was  enriching,  when  his  name  was  sent 


9o  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

South  in  "black  lists,"  designed  to  divert  his 
profitable  trade  in  that  section  to  rival  establish- 
ments, and  when  the  mob  were  threatening  the 
property  of  every  abolitionist  with  the  incen- 
diary's torch,  Mr.  Baldwin  stood  unmoved  to 
defend  the  right  of  the  colored  citizen,  duly 
qualified,  to  the  elective  franchise! 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT, 
SHARP  CURVES,  AND  ASCENDING 
GRADES. 

IT  would  be  natural  to  suppose  that,  while 
such  exciting  questions  were  enlisting  so  much 
of  his  attention,  and  while  he  was  struggling  to 
pay  his  oppressive  debts,  he  would  confine  his 
manufacturing  labors  to  the  inventions  which 
had  already  proved  to  be  serviceable  and  remu- 
nerative. But  the  fact  is  precisely  the  reverse. 
During  these  years  of  perplexity  and  disaster, 
from  1837  to  1842,  he  was  carrying  on  the  most 
hazardous  experiments  of  his  whole  career;  and 
it  was  his  inventive  genius  which  finally  rescued 
him  from  financial  embarrassment.  He  at  last 
perfected  improvements  in  locomotives  which 
not  only  increased  immensely  their  power,  but 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  own  fortune. 

One  of  the  gravest  difficulties  in  the  con- 
struction of  locomotives  for  the  transportation 
of  heavy  freight  trains,  is  to  secure  sufficient 
adhesion  to  the  track  to  prevent  the  driving 


100  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

wheels  from  slipping.  This  difficulty  was  ima- 
gined at  first  to  be  insurmountable  by  a  smooth 
driving  wheel.  Hence  Trevethick's  first  engine 
was  constructed  with  wheels,  the  periphery  of 
which  was  made  rough  by  the  projection  of  bolts 
or  cross-grooves,  so  that  their  "grip"  or  "bite" 
to  the  track  might  be  secured.  The  jolts  which 
resulted  from  their  rapid  motion  over  the  cast- 
iron  plates  of  the  Merthyr-Tydvil  road  were 
among  the  principal  causes  of  Trevethick's  fail- 
ure. The  next  attempt  to  secure  adhesion 
was  made  by  Mr.  Blenkinsop,  of  Leeds,  in 
1811,  who  laid  a  racked  or  toothed  rail  on  one 
side  of  the  road,  into  which  a  toothed  driving 
wheel  on  his  locomotive  worked,  as  pinions 
work  into  a  rack.*  One  year  later,  the  Messrs. 
Chapman,  of  Newcastle,  endeavored  to  overcome 
the  same  fictitious  difficulty  by  passing  a  chain 
once  round  a  grooved  barrel-wheel  under  the 
centre  of  the  engine,  so  that  when  the  wheel 
turned,  the  locomotive,  as  it  were,  dragged  itself 
along  the  railway  by  means  of  this  immense 
chain,  stretching  for  miles  along  the  track. 
These  grotesque  experiments  were  not  aban- 
doned until,  in  1813,  Mr.  Brusston,  of  Derby- 

*  Annals  of  Leeds,  vol.  n.  p.  222. 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        IOI 

shire,  mounted  a  steam  engine  on  legs,  working 
alternately  like  those  of  a  horse,  which  fortu- 
nately blew  up  at  one  of  its  first  trials,  killed  only 
a  few  of  the  bystanders,  and  prevented  worse 
mischief  for  the  future. 

In  1813  an  experiment  was  tried  to  secure  ad- 
hesion to  the  smooth  rail,  by  Mr.  Wm.  Hedley, 
of  Wylam.  His  first  engine  constructed  on  this 
principle  was  a  perfect  success,  and  has  been  at 
work,  near  Newcastle,  as  late  as  1863.  Mr. 
Stephenson  relied  upon  the  weight  of  his  engines 
to  secure^  adhesion  up  to  the  maximum  of  their 
power.  It  was  thus  supposed  that  this  early 
difficulty  was  purely  fictitious. 

But  the  perfection  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  ground 
joints  for  steam  pipes,  the  substitution  of  wire 
for  hemp  and  other  fibrous  materials  in  packing, 
the  increased  size  of  his  boilers,  together  with 
the  admirable  finish  of  all  the  parts,  gave  a  tre- 
mendous power  to  his  engines,  and  enabled  them 
to  surpass  the  maximum  of  adhesion  which  their 
immense  weight  imparted.  There  was  also  a 
limit  to  the  weight  which  could  be  thrown  upon 
two,  or  even  four  driving  wheels.  The  rails 
might  be  crushed  by  receiving  nearly  the  whole 
weight  of  the  machine  upon  a  limited  section. 


102  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

The  problem  was  to  distribute  the  weight  over 
all  the  wheels,  fore  and  aft,  and  yet  make  them 
all  draw.  This  occasioned  no  difficulty  so  long 
as  the  road  was  straight,  as  the  wheels  could  be 
made  of  a  uniform  size,  and  simply  coupled.  Six 
or  eight  wheel  locomotives  were  manufactured 
by  Mr.  Stephenson,  and  succeeded  in  rounding 
curves  of  large  radius  by  having  flanges  only  on 
the  four  external  wheels.  But  the  wheels  with- 
out flanges  were  almost  wrenched  from  the  track 
in  rounding  the  curves,  losing  much  of  their  ad- 
hesion when  it  was  most  needed,  and  endanger- 
ing the  machinery.  Besides,  the  very  roads 
which  transported  the  heaviest  freights  of  coal, 
and  encountered  the  worst  ascending  grades, 
were  also  obliged  to  turn  the  shortest  curves. 

Mr.  Baldwin's  struggle  with  these  difficulties 
brought  out  some  of  the  grandest  traits  of  his 
character.  He  seemed  to  grasp  all  the  conditions 
of  the  problem  at  once,  and  yet  to  concentrate 
his  thoughts  as  if  but  one  obstacle  were  in  his 
way.  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  also,  the  state  of 
his  health,  which  would  have  defeated  all  exer- 
tion in  many  men,  was  made  to  assist  him.  He 
could  not  sleep,  and  he  employed  the  night  in 
busy  invention.  While  his  exhausted  body  was 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.       103 

in  an  attitude  of  repose,  he  made  the  darkness  lu- 
minous with  imaginary  "wheels  within  wheels." 
The  first  result  of  these  incessant  contrivances 
was  his  six-wheeled  gear  locomotive,  patented 
December  31,  1841.  In  this  ingenious  machine 
the  four  wheels  of  the  truck  were  placed  for- 
ward, in  the  usual  way,  and  the  pistons  had  out- 
side connections  with  the  two  driving  wheels 
behind  the  fire-box.  The  truck  was  permitted 
to  vibrate  freely,  and  accommodate  itself  to  the 
curves  and  undulations  of  the  road.  The  axles 
of  the  truck  wheels  were  thus  thrown  incessantly 
into  positions  not  parallel  to  the  axle  of  the 
drivers.  But  between  the  two  axles  of  the  truck 
was  placed  a  revolving  shaft,  held  firmly  in  a 
position  parallel  to  the  driving  axle,  and  at  right- 
angles  to  the  axis  of  the  boiler,  by  stays  con- 
nected with  the  frame  of  the  locomotive.  On 
the  middle  of  this  shaft,  which  was  made  to  re- 
volve by  a  crank  and  a  rod  connecting  with  the 
drivers,  a  cog-wheel  was  fixed,  having  chilled 
cogs,  slightly  rounded  on  the  face,  which,  by 
means  of  two  intervening  wheels,  gave  motion 
to  others  on  the  axis  of  the  truck.  The  four 
truck  wheels  were  made  of  any  desirable  size, 
as  the  gearing  was  proportioned  so  as  to  make 


104  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

thern  travel  at  the  rate  of  the  larger  wheels.* 
The  results  obtained  by  this  engine,  we  learn 
from  the  Report  of  G.  A.  Nicholls,  Superin- 
tendent of  Transportation  on  the  Philadelphia 
Reading  and  Pottsville  R.  R.  :f  a  train  of  117 
loaded  cars,  weighing  in  the  aggregate  590  tons, 
was  hauled  fifty-four  miles  in  five  hours  and 
twenty-two  minutes,  being  at  the  rate  of  over 
ten  miles  per  hour  the  whole  way.  The  train 
was  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  and 
was  transported  in  the  ordinary  freight  business, 
without  any  previous  preparation  of  the  engine, 
cars,  or  fuel,  for  the  performance.  The  engine 
was  closely  watched  at  all  the  starts  of  the  train, 
and  not  the  least  slipping  of  her  wheels  could 
be  perceived.  She  worked  remarkably  well 
throughout  the  trip,  turning  curves  of  819  feet 
radius,  with  ease  to  her  machinery,  and  no  per- 
ceptible increase  of  friction  in  her  gearing.  The 
engine  afterwards  backed  with  ease  round  a  curve 
of  75  feet  radius.  This  train  was  unprecedented 
in  length  and  weight  in  Europe  and  America. 

But  so  much  power  was  lost  by  friction,  and 
the  danger  of  breaking  and  derangement  was  so 

*  Journal  of  Franklin  Institute,  March,  1842,  p.  178. 
f  U.  S.  Gazette,  Feb.  14,  1842. 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        105 

great,  in  this  complicated  machinery,  that  Mr. 
Baldwin  regarded  what  others  praised  so  highly, 
as  a  practical  failure.  Without  a  disheartened 
feeling  for  a  single  moment,  he  returned  to  his 
absorbing  studies.  Every  day  he  would  bring 
new  contrivances  to  his  draughtsmen,  and  take 
home,  at  night,  the  difficulties  which  they  en- 
countered in  the  construction.  He  came  back 
at  last  to  the  Stephenson  model  of  making  all 
the  wheels  of  a  uniform  size,  and  uniting  them 
by  connecting  rods.  The  improvement  which 
he  resolved  to  work  out,  was  to  avoid  the  rigidity 
of  this  machine.  The  arrangement  which  at 
last  proved  to  be  successful,  occurred  to  him 
suddenly  in  the  depths  of  the  night.  He  sprang 
out  of  bed,  made  a  few  rough  drawings,  and 
waited  with  burning  impatience  for  the  morn- 
ing. On  repairing  to  the  works,  he  found  the 
Sheriff's  bills  of  sale  posted  all  over  the  premises, 
and  the  men  standing  about  in  the  greatest  con- 
sternation. The  financial  crisis  had  occurred  on 
the  very  day  of  his  greatest  invention.  He 
stretched  out  his  right  hand,  containing  his  roll 
of  rude  drawings,  and  said  in  a  tone  of  triumph : 
"  I  have  something  here  which  will  defy  the 
Sheriff." 

1.4 


106  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Before  leaving  the  office  to  propose  the  settle- 
ment with  his  creditors  which  we  have  already 
described,  he  placed  his  sketches,  with  full  ex- 
planations, in  the  hands  of  the  draughtsmen. 
They  shared  his  ardor  at  first,  and  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  inventor  spread  like  a  contagion  among 
the  dispirited  workmen.  But  obstacles  were 
encountered  in  the  construction  of  the  model, 
which  discouraged  all  but  himself.  "It  must 
work ;  it  shall  work,"  was  his  uncompromising 
reply  to  their  objections.  And  after  a  delay  of 
more  than  a  year  it  did  work.  He  produced  a 
"Flexible  Truck  Locomotive,"  which  was  the 
best  machine  ever  invented  for  the  transportation 
of  burdens  on  roads  of  heavy  grades  and  short 
curvature. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  render  a  description 
of  the  details  of  this  invention  intelligible  with- 
out illustrations.  But  its  general  principle  can 
be  readily  comprehended.  In  a  locomotive  of 
two  driving  wheels,  there  are  only  two  points  of 
contact  with  the  rail  which  must  maintain  a 
constant  relative  distance  from  the  cylinders ; 
because  the  truck  forward  is  permitted  to  vibrate 
freely  around  the  single  pivot  on  which  that  part 
of  the  frame  of  the  locomotive  rests.  But  when 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        107 

the  three  or  four  wheels  on  each  sicie  are  bound 
together  by  an  inflexible  connecting-rod,  as  in 
the  rigid  engines,  a  crowding  and  slipping  mo- 
tion around  the  curves  results,  at  a  great  loss  of 
power  and  peril  of  the  machinery.  Mr.  Bald- 
win's improvement  consists  in  attaching  the  four 
wheels  forward  to  a  flexible  truck,  instead  of  the 
rigid  frame  of  the  locomotive.  In  the  ordinary 
truck,  the  two  axles  with  the  lateral  beams  of 
the  frames  form  the  figure  of  a  rectangle.  The 
flexible  truck  is  so  constructed  that  this  figure 
may  be  changed  to  a  parallelogram  of  various 
angles,  like  a  parallel  ruler.  The  frame  of  the 
locomotive  rests  upon  two  pivots  instead  of  one, 
inserted  in  the  side  beams  of  this  truck. 

The  action  of  the  locomotive  in  rounding  a 
curve  will  now  be  readily  understood.  The 
wheels  are  all  of  a  uniform  size,  and  are  united 
by  connecting  rods.  The  pistons  move  the 
driving-wheels  in  the  rear  in  the  usual  way,  and 
they  move  the  truck  wheels  forward.  So  long 
as  the  track  is  straight,  the  axles  of  all  the  wheels 
maintain  a  position  at  right  angles  tq  the  axis  of 
the  boiler.  But  as  soon  as  the  truck  wheels  en- 
counter a  curve,  those  on  the  inside  track  begin 
to  move  in  advance  of  the  corresponding  ones 


108  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

on  the  outside.  The  frame  of  the  truck  is  thus 
changed  from  a  rectangle  to  a  parallelogram, 
the  angles  of  which  continue  to  change  round 
the  whole  curve.  To  accommodate  these  varia- 
tions, the  following  parts  of  the  machine  are 
made  flexible : — 

First.  The  frame  of  the  truck  is  constructed 
with  joints  at  the  four  angles,  like  those  of  the 
parallel  ruler. 

Second.  The  wrought  iron  beams  forming 
the  sides  of  this  truck  contain  cylindrical  boxes 
in  each  end  for  the  journal  bearings  of  the  axles. 
These  boxes  vibrate  readily  in  their  sockets  and 
adapt  themselves  to  the  oblique  motion  of  the 
axles. 

Third.  In  the  frame  of  the  locomotive  two 
spherical  pins  are  fixed,  as  pivots,  which  rest  in 
sockets  on  the  centres  of  the  two  lateral  beams. 
Each  beam  is  thus  allowed  to  vibrate  on  this 
point;  the  spherical  joint  accommodating  irreg- 
ularities of  elevation  as  well  as  curvature. 

Fourth.  The  connecting  rods  have  universal 
joints  at  the  points  of  contact  with  the  wheels. 
While  the  relative  distance  between  each  driving 
wheel  and  its  corresponding  truck  wheel  at  the 
extreme  front  is  thus  constant,  the  several  sec- 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        109 

tions  of  the  connecting  rod  are  not  held  rigidly 
in  a  straight  line. 

To  avoid  the  resistance  of  the  tender,  the 
water  is  carried  in  a  tank  placed  on  the  boiler, 
and  the  fuel  is  stored  in  two  boxes  on  each  side 
of  the  foot-board,  lengthened  for  this  purpose. 
Thus  the  entire  weight  of  the  locomotive  with 
its  supplies,  amounting  in  some  instances  to  thirty 
tons,  is  economized  to  secure  adhesion,  the  labor 
is  impartially  distributed  among  all  the  wheels, 
while  all  irregularities  of  the  track  are  accom- 
modated as  readily  as  by  locomotives  of  two 
driving  wheels. 

The  patent  for  the  Flexible  Truck  Locomo- 
tive was  secured  in  August,  1842,*  and  its  per- 
formances have  since  led  to  the  construction  of 
roads  in  this  and  other  countries  over  heights 
before  deemed  inaccessible.  Mr.  Charles  Ellet, 
Jr.,  in  his  description  of  the  "Mountain  Top 
Track"  across  the  Blue  Ridge  in  Virginia,  which 
exceeded  in  difficulty  of  construction  the  famous 
Austrian  Road  over  the  Lemmercing  Pass,  does 
not  hesitate  to  ascribe  to  this  locomotive  in 
climbing  steep  grades,  unrivalled  pre-eminence. 

*  Journal  of  Franklin  Institute,  August,  1848,  p.  93. 


1 1 0  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

The  maximum  grade  on  this  road  is  296  feet 
per  mile,  and  it  has  curvatures  of  234  feet  radius. 
He  says: — 

"This  road  was  opened  to  the  public  in  the 
spring  of  1854,  and  it  has  now,  in  the  autumn 
of  1856,  been  in  constant  use  for  a  period  of 
more  than  z\  years.  In  all  that  time  the  admi- 
rable engines  relied  on  to  perform  the  extraor- 
dinary duties  imposed  upon  them  in  the  passage 
of  this  summit,  have  failed  but  once  to  make 
their  regular  trips.  The  mountain  has  been 
covered  with  deep  snows  for  weeks  in  succession, 
and  the  cuts  have  been  frequently  filled  for  long 
periods  many  feet  in  depth  with  drifted  snow ; 
the  ground  has  been  covered  with  sleet  and  ice, 
and  every  impediment  due  to  bad  weather  and 
inclement  seasons  has  been  encountered  and  suc- 
cessfully surmounted  in  working  the  track. 

"  During  the  last  severe  winter,  when  the  tra- 
vel upon  all  the  railways  of  Virginia  and  the 
northern  and  western  States  was  interrupted, 
and,  on  many  lines,  for  days  in  succession,  the 
engines  upon  this  mountain  track,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  single  day  already  specified,  moved 
regularly  forward  and  did  their  appointed  work. 
In  fact,  during  the  space  of  22  years  that  the 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        1 1  I 

road  has  been  in  use,  they  have  only  failed  to 
take  the  mail  through  in  this  single  instance, 
when  the  train  was  caught  in  a  snow-drift  near 
the  summit  of  the  mountain. 

"These  results  are  due,  in  a  great  degree,  to 
the  admirable  adaptation  of  the  engines  em- 
ployed to  the  service  to  be  performed.  The 
regular  daily  service  of  each  of  the  engines  is 
to  make  four  trips  of  eight  miles  over  the  moun- 
tain, drawing  one  eight-wheel  baggage  car  to- 
gether with  two  eight-wheel  passenger  cars,  in 
each  direction. 

"In  conveying  freight,  the  regular  train  on 
the  mountain  is  three  of  the  eight-wheel  house 
cars  fully  loaded,  or  four  of  them  when  empty 
or  partly  loaded. 

"These  three  cars,  when  full,  weigh  with 
their  loads  from  40  to  43  tons.  Sometimes, 
though  rarely,  when  the  business  has  been  un- 
usually heavy,  the  loads  have  exceeded  50  tons. 

"With  such  trains  the  engines  are  stopped  on 
the  track,  ascending  or  descending,  and  are 
started  again,  on  the  steepest  grades,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  engineer. 

"The  ordinary  speed  of  the  engines,  when 
loaded,  is  jl  miles  an  hour  on  the  ascending 


I  I  2  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

grades,  and  from  52  to  6  miles  an  hour  on, the 
descent. 

"  Greater  speed  and  larger  loads  might  doubt- 
less be  permitted  with  success;  but  the  policy 
has  been  to  work  the  track  with  perfect  safety, 
to  risk  nothing,  and  to  obtain  and  hold  the 
public  confidence. 

-  "The  locomotives  mainly  relied  on  for  this 
severe  duty  were  designed  and  constructed  by 
the  firm  of  M.  W.  Baldwin  &  Company,  of 
Philadelphia.  The  slight  modifications  intro- 
duced at  the  instance  of  the  writer  to  adapt  them 
better  to  the  particular  service  to  be  performed 
in  crossing  the  Blue  Ridge,  did  not  touch  the 
working  proportions  or  principle  of  the  engines, 
the  merits  of  which  are  due  to  the  patentee,  M. 
W.  Baldwin,  Esq." 

This  magnificent  locomotive  continues  to  be 
without  a  rival  in  its  peculiar  and  most  difficult 
field.  It  is  hurrying  the  produce  of  the  West 
over  the  precipitous  Alleghanies,  scaling  the 
mountain  heights  of  Brazil,  and  flying  with  the 
wings  of  the  morning  across  the  western  prai- 
ries, impatient  for  hardy  enterprise  to  open  the 
way  for  new  triumphs  over  those  rocky  and 
snow-crested  barriers  which  have  too  long  se- 


LOCOMOTIVES  FOR  HEAVY  FREIGHT.        1 1  3 

vered  us  from  the  golden  plains  on  the  Pacific; 
animated,  as  it  were,  in  all  these  incredible  con- 
quests of  nature,  with  the  determined  spirit  and 
unfaltering  faith  of  its  great  inventor. 

We  cannot  close  this  sketch  of  Mr.  Baldwin's 
mechanical  career  without  again  calling  atten- 
tion to  those  sterling  elements  of  his  character 
which  it  has  brought  into  exercise :  his  high 
genius,  his  ready  adaptation  to  new  pursuits, 
his  buoyant  hope  and  unfaltering  faith  in  the 
midst  of  discouragement,  his  persistence  in  un- 
tried fields  of  labor,  his  inexhaustible  patience 
in  a  chosen  purpose,  and,  above  all,  his  wise 
foresight  have  enabled  him  always  to  lead  pub- 
lic enterprise  in  this  country,  made  him  promi- 
nent in  every  occupation  he  has  undertaken,  and 
constituted  him  a  public  benefactor  merely  by 
the  new  industry  he  has  stimulated,  and  the  en- 
couraging example  he  has  set  before  every  young 
man  who  engages  in  honorable  labor  with  high 
aspirations. 


CHURCH  BUILDING. 

LONG  after  Mr.  Baldwin's  fame  as  a  locomo- 
tive builder  shall  have  been  consigned  to  the 
comparative  oblivion  of  technical  history,  his 
name  will  be  remembered  with  gratitude  by 
thousands.  He  was  emphatically  the  church 
builder  of  Philadelphia. 

This  work  began  little  by  little  in  the  Mis- 
sionary Association.  Their  Mission  Sabbath 
Schools  would  bring  families  within  the  means 
of  grace  who  never  entered  a  Christian  church. 
Prayer  meetings  and  informal  addresses  on  the 
Sabbath  would  call  for  more  permanent  labors. 
A  minister  of  the  gospel  would  be  engaged  and 
a  congregation  gathered;  then  a  church  would 
be  provided.  The  Western  Presbyterian  Church, 
corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Filbert  Streets,  grew 
out  of  the  labors  of  this  Association,  and  the 
first  large  contribution  Mr.  Baldwin  ever  made 
in  this  favorite  work  of  beneficence  was  to 
save  the  Cedar  Street  Presbyterian  Church  from 
sheriff's  sale. 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  1 1  5 


CALVARY  CHURCH. 

But  the  beginning  of  this  great  work  of 
Church  extension  will  always  be  dated  from  a 
more  important  enterprise.  In  the  fall  of  1850 
Mr.  Barnes  met  Mr.  Baldwin  and  another  mem- 
ber of  his  church,  at  one  of  his  pastoral  visits, 
and  the  conversation  turning  upon  the  migration 
of  families  west  of  Broad  Street,  they  decided 
to  call  a  meeting  to  consider  the  needs  of  this 
growing  neighborhood.  Dr.  Brainard  soon  en- 
tered into  the  plan  with  his  accustomed  zeal. 
The  meetings  continued  to  adjourn  from  week 
to  week,  until  more  than  a  dozen  of  the  most 
substantial  and  earnest  Christian  men  from  the 
congregations  of  the  First,  Pine  Street,  and  Clin- 
ton Street  churches  were  interested  in  the  deli- 
berations. Forty  successive  meetings  in  all  were 
held.  They  were  of  one  mind,  but,  unfortu- 
nately, the  subscriptions  could  not  be  brought 
up  to  anything  like  the  required  sum.  At  last 
Dr.  Brainard  made  one  of  his  characteristic 
speeches.  Only  a  month  or  two  before  his 
death  he  happened  to  relate  the  circumstance  to 
a  friend,  so  that  this  little  model  of  persuasive 


I 
Il6  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

eloquence  can  be  preserved  almost  in  his  exact 
words:  "I  made  up  my  mind,"  said  he,  "that 
Brother  Barnes  and  I  were  dealing  a  little  too 
tenderly  with  our  rich  friends.  I  was  not  afraid 
of  them,  and  thinking  the  time  had  now  come 
for  pretty  plain  talk,  I  said  to  them : — 

"Brethren,  the  Lord  has  denied  to  you  the 
privilege  of  exercising  many  of  the  most  pre- 
cious graces  of  the  Christian  character,  which 
in  his  infinite  mercy  he  has  vouchsafed  to  the 
rest  of  us.  You  never  knew  what  4t  is  to  repose 
absolute  unassisted  faith  in  God  for  the  things 
of  this  world.  You  never  had  to  go  to  sleep  at 
night  without  knowing  where  your  breakfast 
was  to  come  from.  You  never  had  a  sick  child 
wasting  away  for  want  of  costly  luxuries.  You 
never  had  to  deny  yourselves  the  gratification  of 
the  impulses  of  pity  when  a  sufferer  came  to 
your  door.  You  never  had  to  endure  the  hu- 
miliation of  being  dunned  for  an  honest  debt 
without  knowing  whether  you  could  ever  pay  it. 
All  these  unspeakable  advantages  in  developing 
Christian  character  an  inscrutable  Providence 
has  taken  from  you  and  bestowed  upon  us  poor 
men.  The  one  solitary  grace  of  the  Christian 
life  which  has  been  denied  to  us  and  given  to 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  II J 

you,  is  the  grace  of  liberality,  and  if  you  dorit 
exercise  that,  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  your  souls  /" 

Every  one  who  ever  heard  Dr.  Brainard  talk 
when  he  meant  it,  can  see  the  upturned  face, 
sparkling  eye,  and  compressed  lip  with  which 
these  pungent  words  came  out.  As  he  reached 
this  part  of  the  narrative  to  his  friend  on  that 
memorable  ride  in  the  summer  of  1866,  he 
reined  in  his  horse  and  broke  out  in  the  heartiest 
tone :  "  My  confidence  in  human  nature  was  not 
misplaced.  At  first  I  was  almost  frightened  at 
my  boldness ;  but  soon  I  saw  one  of  those  amused 
and  genial  smiles  begin  to  creep  over  Baldwin's 
face.  Somebody  caught  the  twinkle  of  his  eye, 
and  in  half  a  minute  the  whole  company  broke 
into  inextinguishable  laughter.  In  two  or  three 
weeks  we  had  some  $75,000  on  the  paper." 

Mr.  Baldwin's  portion  of  this  subscription, 
$10,000,  was  the  smallest  part  of  his  offering  in 
the  good  work.  He  was  indefatigable  in  his 
personal  attention  to  the  work  of  selecting  the 
ground,  drawing  the  plans,  and  securing  the 
prompt  execution  of  the  contract.  The  corner 
stone  was  laid  on  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1851, 
and  Nov.  6th,  1853,  one  °f  t^le  most  beautiful 
and  imposing  church  edifices  in  the  city  was 


I  I  8  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

dedicated  to  the  service  of  Almighty  God.  Four 
days  later  the  church  was  organized,  with  Mr. 
Baldwin  and  Mr.  Thomas  Fleming  as  ruling 
Elders,  and  Mr.  John  A.  Brown  as  President  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees;  all  from  the  First  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

It  was  the  intention  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  some 
of  the  largest  contributors  to  this  fund,  that  it 
should  be  considered  a  bonafide  offering  to  the 
Lord,  without  any  reserve  of  personal  property 
in  the  building;  that  no  part  of  their  subscrip- 
tions should  ever  be  paid  back  from  the  sale  of 
pews,  but  that  all  moneys  derived  from  this 
source  should  constitute  a  perpetual  fund  for 
erecting  new  churches  in  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia as  they  were  needed.  It  is  impossible  to 
conceive  a  more  magnificent  plan  of  church 
extension.  Each  church  could  be  built  with 
cash  payments,  and  could  repay  the  advances 
made  in  its  own  time  of  prosperity,  thus  enabling 
others  in  turn  to  continue  the  good  work.  But 
unfortunately  this  feature  of  the  new  enterprise 
was  not  carried  out,  and  the  fund  from  the  sale 
of  pews  was  distributed  among  the  original  sub- 
scribers. 

But   although   the  plan   failed,   the  spirit  of 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  119 

church  extension  was  infused  into  the  Calvary 
congregation  from  the  beginning.  The  work 
was  stimulated  by  the  vigorous  appeals  of  the 
Pastor.  New  Sabbath  Schools  and  new  congre- 
gations began  to  be  gathered  at  once.  The 
munificence  of  many  members  of  this  branch 
of  the  church  began  to  be  directed  to  this  one 
means  of  doing  good  above  all  others.  Fore- 
most among  these  eager  church  builders  was 
Mr.  Baldwin. 

OLIVET  CHURCH. 

The  first  enterprise*  of  this  kind  was  a  Sab- 
bath School,  organized  in  1855,  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  city  by  a  few  members  of 
Calvary  Church.  In  a  few  weeks  it  overflowed 
the  small  premises  at  first  provided. 

In  this  extremity  the  Missionary  Association 
of  Calvary  Church,  who  had  pledged  themselves 
to  the  support  of  the  school,  called  upon  the 
Pastor,  Mr.  Brown,  and  Mr.  Baldwin,  to  visit 
the  neighborhood  and  judge  of  the  demands  for 
enlargement.  They  took  a  grand  survey  of  the 

*  This  part  of  our  narrative  was  kindly  furnished  by  Rev.  W.  W. 
Taylor,  Pastor  of  Olivet  Church. 


I  20  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

whole  ground.  They  discussed  the  expediency 
of  taking  down  partitions. and  making  the  house 
then  occupied  serviceable.  This  was  abandoned 
at  once  as  inadequate.  At  last  they  ascended  an 
eminence  on  the  corner  of  Twenty-second  and 
Mount  Vernon  Streets,  whence  at  that  day  they 
could  look  eastward  for  half  a  mile  over  unoc- 
cupied ground,  and  every  mind  was  at  work 
thinking  and  planning.  Evidently  a  new  build- 
ing must  be  erected.  But  the  sum  demanded 
would  be  large;  and  without  a  liberal  offer  to 
begin  with,  the  Association  would  not  dare  to 
move. 

Mr.  Baldwin  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  who  ever  lived,  to  foresee  the  demands  of 
the  future.  The  same  spirit  which  anticipated 
the  application  of  steam  to  railroads,  grasped 
now,  at  one  glance  of  the  eye,  the  more  urgent 
demands  of  this  growing  part  of  the  city  for 
gospel  work.  Throwing  his  hand  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Spring  Garden  and  Twenty-fourth  Street, 
he  exclaimed:  "I  have  a  lot  over  there  worth 
six  thousand  dollars;  you  may  have  it." 

The  offer  was  so  generous  and  unexpected 
that  it  was  not  at  once  appreciated,  the  brethren 
of  the  Association  supposing  he  meant  to  let 


CHURCH' BUILDING.  121 

them  build  on  it,  subject  to  ground  rent:  thus 
the  exploration  was  brought  to  a  close  with  no 
definite  results.  Not  long  after  he  inquired, 
with  considerable  surprise,  "What  are  you  wait- 
ing for  ?  Why  don't  you  build  on  my  lot  ?" 
producing  a  plot  he  had  made  of  its  situation 
and  dimensions.  Encouraged  now  with  the 
assurance  of  this  liberal  gift  out  and  out,  they 
began  to  get  plans  for  building,  and,  with  Mr. 
Baldwin's  cordial  consent,  disposed  of  the  land 
to  pay  for  the  erection  of  the  new  chapel. 
Very  soon  the  welcome  intelligence  was  received 
that  Mr.  Brown  had  pledged  an  equal  amount 
for  the  purchase  of  the  place  of  good  omen, 
where  the  survey  of  the  ground  had  first  been 
made.  On  a  portion  of  this  lot  of  140  feet 
front  on  Twenty-second  Street,  occupying  the 
whole  block  between  Mount  Vernon  and  Wal- 
lace Streets,  with  100  feet  depth,  a  beautiful 
and  commodious  chapel  was  built.  Here  the 
Sabbath  School  was  gathered,  and  within  a  year 
a  church  with  sixteen  members  and  two  ruling 
elders  was  organized,  under  the  name  of  the 
Olivet  Presbyterian  Church. 

In   1 86 1   Rev.  W.  W.  Taylor  was   called  to 
this  church,  and  under  his  efficient  labors  the 
16 


122  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

congregation  again  increased  beyond  its  accom- 
modations. Besides,  buildings  were  going  up 
all  around  the  little  chapel,  which  demanded 
that  a  more  beautiful  edifice  should  be  reared  to 
the  honor  of  God's  name.  Again,  therefore, 
the  faithful  Pastor  and  his  people,  rich  in  faith, 
but  not  yet  in  substance,  applied  to  their  gene- 
rous friends.  But  this  was  in  1863;  and  the 
uncertainties  of  the  great  war  operated  against 
their  claims  on  the  mind  of  one  of  them,  while 
the  other  had  previously  pledged  all  his  avail- 
able means  to  another  church.  No  entreaty 
could  induce  Mr.  Baldwin  to  make  any  pledges 
for  the  distant  future.  "  One  thing  at  a  time," 
he  would  say  to  the  good  brethren,  with  such 
kindness  that  they  did  not  despair. 

Early  in  1864  Mr.  Taylor  made  another  visit 
to  that  consecrated  office  where  more  business 
for  the  next  world  than  for  this  was  transacted. 
The  works  and  gifts  of  this  good  man  were 
conducted  on  principles  of  wise  Christian  calcu- 
lation; nor  was  one  word  of  argument  or  per- 
suasion needed  when  he  saw  clearly  the  point  of 
duty  and  wisdom.  He  had  just  paid  the  last 
bills  of  his  recent  engagement;  but  so  far  was 
he  from  feeling  that  his  work  was  done  and  he 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  123 

might  now  rest  from  care,  his  hands  had  only 
grown  fuller  and  his  heart  larger  for  new  libe- 
rality. 

He  therefore  asked  for  a  frank  and  full  state- 
ment of  their  necessities.  Mr.  Taylor  had  not 
proceeded  far  when  he  was  interrupted  with  the 
welcome  question : — 

"Well,  what  kind  of  a  church  do  you  want?" 

The  reply  was  that  $25,000  would  furnish 
them  with  all  that  they  needed,  but  a  building 
less  sightly  and  commodious  than  that  sum 
would  procure  ought  not  to  be  erected. 

"But  where  in  the  world  do  you  expect  to 
get  that  much  money?" 

"I  don't  know,"  was  the  reply,  "unless  you 
give  it." 

"And  what  reason  have  you  to  suppose  that  I 
will?" 

"We  have  the  impression  that  you  have  in- 
vested too  much  money  in  our  work  already  to 
see  your  stock  depreciate  on  your  hands." 

Mr.  Baldwin  loved  nothing  so  much  as  out- 
spoken frankness,  without  flattery  or  manage- 
ment. With  a  hearty  smile  he  gave  the  hard 
working  pastor  his  hand,  and  said : — 

"Go  ahead  and  select  your  model." 


124  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

No  firmer  promise  than  these  words  implied 
was  needed:  that  very  day  the  delightful  work 
of  prospecting  and  planning  was  commenced, 
and  on  May  3Oth,  1864,  the  corner-stone  of 
the  present  imposing  edifice  was  laid.  It  was 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  Almighty  God  on 
the  last  Sabbath  of  October,  1865,  Mr.  Bald- 
win's donation  of  $20,000  having  been  promptly 
paid. 

And  now  another  visit  was  made  to  the  con- 
secrated office.  The  Pastor  and  a  committee  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  made  a  formal  call  to  ex- 
press their  sense  of  obligation  for  his  large  gen- 
erosity. Their  sentiments  and  feelings  were 
conveyed  to  him  in  simple  words,  entirely  free 
from  that  fulsome  eulogy  which  he  could  never 
endure.  They  seized  upon  the  strong  point 
which  they  knew  he  would  appreciate,  that 
they  had  needed  his  help,  and  that  he  had  be- 
stowed his  substance  wisely,  where  firm  founda- 
tions had  been  laid  for  continuous  good,  and 
fountains  of  religious  blessings  opened  that 
would  continue  to  flow  when  many  generations 
had  passed  away.  They  thanked  him  for  his 
benefactions,  and  gave  him  their  best  wishes  for 
his  welfare,  and  the  assurance  of  their  prayers 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  125 

that   God  would   reward    him  with   grace  and 
peace. 

His  reply  to  this  affecting  address  was  full  of 
noble  words,  characteristic  of  his  simple  and 
devoted  spirit:  God  had  given  him  property  to 
be  used  for  his  glory;  it  was  nothing  but  his 
duty  to  give  it  away.  He  was  moved  and  grati- 
fied by  the  testimony  they  gave  him  of  their 
esteem ;  and  he  felt  stimulated  by  what  had 
passed  to  go  on  repeating  what  he  had  already 
done  as  long  as  God  should  spare  his  life.  Thus 
ended  their  memorable  interview  with  the  good 
man  who  has  gone  before,  whom  they  hope  to 
meet  where  they  who  sow  and  they  who  reap 
shall  rejoice  together. 

This  narrative  has  been  given  here,  although 
two  other  churches  had  been  previously  erected 
chiefly  through  Mr.  Baldwin's  munificence,  be- 
cause Olivet  was  the  first  daughter  of  Calvary. 
But  she  has  a  sister  only  two  years  younger, 
whose  history  is  quite  as  intimately  associated 
with  Mr.  Baldwin's  life. 


126  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


TABOR  CHURCH. 

On  March  8th,  1857,*  a  Sunday  School  was 
opened  under  the  direction  of  the  Philadelphia 
Sunday  School  Association,  in  a  small  house  on 
Monroe  Street,  between  Seventeenth  and  Eigh- 
teenth. At  that  time  it  was  estimated  that 
more  than  thirty  thousand  children  were  desti- 
tute of  religious  instruction,  and  although  there 
was  a  large  population  in  this  section,  there  was 
no  Sunday  School  south  of  Lombard  Street  and 
west  of  Broad.  This  school,  at  its  commence- 
ment, numbered  twenty-three  scholars  and  four 
teachers.  The  next  Sunday,  March  1 5th,  classes 
were  formed,  and  the  school  was  called  "Ta- 
bor." The  next  month  the  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation of  Calvary  Church,  encouraged  by  the 
success  which  had  crowned  their  efforts  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  city,  which  had  resulted  in 
the  establishment  of  Olivet  Church  in  a  little 
over  a  year  from  the  opening  of  the  Mission 
Sunday  School,  took  this  school  under  its  charge. 

*  From  the  Historical  Sketch,  prepared  by  Rev.  Llewellyn  Pratt, 
and  read  at  the  dedication  of  Tabor  Church.  See  American  Pres- 
byterian, Dec.  22,  1864. 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  I  2/ 

Anticipating  its  growth,  the  Association  began 
at  once  to  make  arrangements  to  provide  it  with 
a  suitable  building.  Before  these  could  be  per- 
fected, however,  the  school  had  outgrown  its 
two  small  rooms  in  Monroe  Street,  and  was 
compelled,  in  May,  to  remove  to  larger  ones  at 
the  corner  of  Seventeenth  and  Catharine  Streets. 
Here,  in  a  few  weeks,  the  number  of  scholars 
increased  to  eighty-one. 

At  the  close  of  July,  1857,  a  lot  at  the  corner 
of  Seventeenth  and  Fitzwater  Streets  having 
been  given  for  that  purpose  by  John  A.  Brown, 
Esq.,  ground  was  broken  for  the  erection  of  a 
chapel  33  by  70  feet,  and  in  about  three  months 
the  building  was  completed  at  a  cost,  including 
the  lot,  of  about  seven  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars.  This  neat  and  commodious  chapel  was 
dedicated  on  Nov.  i6th,  1857,  and  the  Sabbath 
School,  numbering  now  one  hundred  and  forty- 
five  scholars,  was  removed  to  the  first  story, 
which  alone  was  yet  furnished.  At  once  the 
growth  was  greatly  stimulated,  so  that,  before 
the  end  of  the  first  year,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-four  scholars  overflowed  into  the  other 
story  and  took  possession  of  the  whole  house. 
The  school  would  never  stay  where  it  was  put. 


I  28  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

The  Missionary  Association  could  hardly  keep 
pace  with  it,  but  was  hurried  on  from  one 
scheme  of  preparation  to  larger  ones.  It  seemed 
as  if  those  twenty-three  scholars  would  become 
a  host,  all  clamoring  for  room. 

But  the  Association,  under  the  lead  of  Mr. 
Pratt,  its  zealous  Chairman,  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  Sabbath  School  work.  The  chapel 
was  soon  opened  for  preaching  on  Sunday  even- 
ings, and  for  other  religious  services  during  the 
week,  and  it  was  at  once  proved  that  a  congre- 
gation could  be  easily  and  speedily  gathered,  for 
the  most  part  from  those  who  had  no  regular 
place  of  worship.  Provision  was  therefore  made 
for  the  support  of  an  Evangelist,  who  should 
preach  regularly  in  the  chapel  and  visit  from 
house  to  house,  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the 
families  in  this  neighborhood.  By  the  good 
providence  of  God,  the  Association  was  led  to 
procure  the  services  of  Rev.  George  Van  Deurs, 
a  native  of  Denmark,  and  a  recent  graduate  of 
Auburn  Seminary.  He  commenced  preaching 
about  the  middle  of  July,  1858,  and  through  his 
unwearied  and  faithful  labors  a  large  congrega- 
tion was  soon  brought  together,  and  the  reform- 
ing work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  was  begun  in  this 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  129 

section  of  the  city.  The  converts  were  at  first 
received  into  Calvary  Church,  at  its  successive 
communions;  but  as  their  number  increased  the 
session  of  Calvary  Church  would  meet  at  the 
Chapel  to  receive  them,  and  also  to  celebrate 
the  communion  there. 

Mr.  Baldwin's  interest  in  the  enterprise  began 
with  Mr.  Van  Deurs'  labors.  It  was  his  motion 
in  the  Association  that  an  evangelist  be  em- 
ployed ;  and  as  a  "  motion  "  from  him  was  always 
more  than  a  form  of  words,  they  had  no  fear 
that  the  funds  would  be  raised.  But  the  meet- 
ings of  session  in  the  Chapel  secured  an  invest- 
ment from  him  of  more  value  than  his  generous 
donations — his  heart  was  immediately  interested 
in  the  spiritual  good  of  these  multitudes. 
Through  wet  and  cold  he  would  always  find  his 
way  down  to  engage  in  the  holy  duties  of  his 
office  to  "try  the  spirits  whether  they  be  of 
Christ."  Many  of  them  had  been  brought  up 
in  great  ignorance  of  religious  truth,  and  spirit- 
ual doubts  and  troubles  were  often  encountered. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  tenderness  with  which 
this  good  man  would  lead  these  .lambs  of  the 
fold.  He  never  confused  them  with  the  per- 
plexities of  theology.  He  was  not  shocked  to 


I  30  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

find  his  questions  answered  very  wildly  some- 
times. He  knew  the  difference  between  faith 
and  opinion,  and  no  soul  who  could  say — 

"  I  'm  a  poor  sinner,  nothing  at  all ; 
Jesus  Christ  is  all  in  all," 

failed  to  receive  his  welcome  and  his  blessing. 
To  the  last  day  of  their  lives  these  little  ones  in 
Jesus'  fold  will  remember  the  first  time  they 
received  the  bread  and  wine  from  this  venerable 
servant  of  the  Lord. 

There  were  thus  admitted  to  this  branch  of 
Calvary  Church,  from  December,  1858,  to  April, 
1863,  two  hundred  and  forty-three  persons,  all 
but  seven  on  confession  of  faith.  These  acces- 
sions were  made  regularly  at  every  communion ; 
never  less  than  three,  in  May,  1860,  and  in 
February,  1861,  thirty-five;  an  average  on  each 
communion  of  thirteen.  The  time  had  now 
come  for  the  final  stage  in  this  important  enter- 
prise. On  April  23d,  1863,  a  commission  from 
the  Third  Presbytery  of  Philadelphia,  consisting 
of  Rev.  Drs.  Jenkins  and  Patton,  Rev.  George 
Van  Deurs,  and  Elder  M.  W.  Baldwin,  organized 
the  "Tabor  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  City  of 
Philadelphia,"  with  two  hundred  and  thirteen 
members,  two  ruling  elders,  and  three  deacons. 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  131 

The  influence  of  this  step  was  at  once  felt,  and 
soon  Sabbath  school  and  congregation  were  again 
clamoring  for  more  room.  The  Association  for 
once  became  alarmed  at  the  irrepressible  growth 
of  their  original  twenty-three  children.  The 
clouds  of  war  were  dark  over  the  land,  and  how 
could  they  make  suitable  provision  for  this  vigor- 
ous church?  We  may  imagine  their  relief  to 
learn  that  the  work  of  church  building  was  for 
once  taken  out  of  their  hands.  Mr.  Baldwin 
had  often  helped  build  churches;  the  time  had 
come  when  he  could  build  a  church  alone ! 
Without  waiting  for  one  word  of  solicitation ; 
without  even  consulting  any  one ;  in  fact,  against 
the  remonstrance  of  some  of  his  more  cautious 
friends,  he  procured  a  large  lot  on  the  corner 
of  Eighteenth  and  Christian  Streets,  and  con- 
tracted for  the  erection  of  the  church.  July  2d, 
1863,  the  corner-stone  was  laid  by  Miss  Cecilia 
Baldwin,  and  appropriate  addresses  were  made 
by  Mr.  Barnes,  Dr.  Brainard,  Dr.  March,  and 
Mr.  Culver.  That  day  will  be  remembered  by 
those  who  participated  in  the  ceremonies  as  one 
of  the  dark  days  of  the  republic.  It  was  the 
day  before  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  when  our 
own  State  was  polluted  by.  the  touch  of  rebels ; 
when  rumors  of  disasters  filled  the  air  and  made 


132  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

the  heart  sick;  when  hastening  fugitives  were 
coming  to  tell  exaggerated  and  alarming  tales 
of  the  near  approach  of  the  country's  enemies. 
It  will  be  remembered  how  difficult  it  was  then 
to  speak  with  hopefulness  of  the  work  under- 
taken; and  doubt  was  even  expressed  whether 
the  building  thus  commenced  would  soon  be 
completed.  This  expression  was  on  every  one's 
tongue:  but  "the  building  of  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem was  ever  in  troublous  times."  With 
heavy  hearts  they  deposited  their  relics  in  the 
stone,  not  the  least  precious  of  which  was  a 
striking  portrait  of  the  munificent  builder  of  the 
proposed  structure,  and  laid  it  to  its  long  rest. 

How  changed  the  scene  when,  on  the  evening 
of  Thursday,  December  I5th,  1864,  this  beau- 
tiful church  was  dedicated !  The  clouds  had 
broken  and  drifted  away.  Though  war  was  still 
raging  in  the  land,  this  city  had  been  undis- 
turbed, and  the  building  had  reached  completion 
without  the  slightest  interruption.  The  style 
of  Tabor  Church  is  the  early  English,  beautiful 
in  design,  harmonious  in  its  proportions,  and 
well  adapted  to  all  the  purposes  of  public  wor- 
ship. It  is  on  the  cruciform  or  transept  plan, 
with  an  elegant  tower  on  one  front  angle,  sur- 
mounted with  a  spire.  The  front  measures  51.6 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  133 

feet,  the  depth  is  90.8 ;  the  transverse  dimension 
through  the  transept  is  78.6.  The  ceiling  is  a 
pointed  arch,  and  decorated  with  moulded  ribs. 
The  height  to  the  spring  of  the  arch  is  16  feet; 
to  the  apex  35  feet.  It  is  built  entirely  of  solid 
brown  freestone,  and  is  capable  of  seating  800 
persons.  The  whole  expense  of  $22,000  was 
paid  by  Mr.  Baldwin. 

The  increase  of  this  church  has  been  such  a 
remarkable  illustration  of  the  blessing  of  God 
upon  this  munificent  gift,  and  upon  faithful 
preaching,  and  the  most  indefatigable  personal 
visitation  by  the  pastor  which  any  city  has  ever 
enjoyed,  that  we  give  a  summary  of  the  acces- 
sions to  Tabor  Church  up  to  the  present  time : — 


In  1865  .  .  81 
In  1866  .  .  84 
In  1867  .  .  85 


Total  number  563 


In  1859  .  .  61 

In  1860  .  .  89 

In  1861  .  .  47 

In  1862  .  .  27 

In  1863  .  .  53 

In  1864  .  .  36 

No  wonder  that  Mr.  Baldwin  exclaimed,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  anniversary  of  the  Sabbath 
School  in  May,  1865,  when  for  the  first  and  last 
time  he  entered  the  new  church,  "This  is  the 
best  investment  I  ever  made  in  my  life!" 


134  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


NORTH  BROAD  STREET  CHURCH. 

Meantime  another  church  enterprise  had  been 
originated  by  Mr.  Baldwin,  and  had  proved  to 
be  in  many  respects  the  most  successful  effort  of 
the  Presbyterian  denomination  in  the  city.  Its 
history  is  a  marvellous  illustration  of  that  wise 
foresight  in  spiritual  matters  which  we  have  so 
often  remarked. 

In  1835,  when  the  Broad  Street  works  were 
erected,  they  were  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city ; 
but  the  employment  furnished  by  this  and  many 
similar  enterprises  which  began  to  spring  up  on 
every  side,  stimulated  the  building  of  residences, 
until  this  outpost  became  the  centre  of  the  city. 
Mr.  Baldwin  had  long  been  deliberating  upon 
the  best  means  of  providing  the  Gospel  for  this 
field,  so  intimately  associated  with  his  severest 
struggles  and  greatest  prosperity,  when  he  made 
the  acquaintance  -of  Rev.  E.  E.  Adams,  who 
came  to  solicit  contributions  for  the  American 
Chapel  in  Paris. 

One  morning,  in  the  spring  of  1857,  they 
met  providentially  on  Chestnut  Street. 

"You  are  the  very  man   I  am  looking  for," 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  135 

said  Mr.  Baldwin,  taking  Mr.  Adams'  arm.  "I 
am  told  that  you  are  willing  to  undertake  a  new 
church  enterprise  in  this  city." 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  reply.  "On  certain  con- 
ditions I  would  not  object." 

"And  what  are  the  conditions?" 

"That  it  shall  not  be  a  mission  church,  nor  a 
church  for  the  rich  exclusively;  that  all  classes 
in  the  neighborhood  shall  be  gathered  in;  and 
that  my  own  support  be  pledged  for  two  years, 
while  I  am  doing  the  preliminary  work  of  col- 
lecting a  self-supporting  congregation  and  erect- 
ing a  house  of  worship." 

"Very  well;  I  thoroughly  approve  of  your 
principles,  and  I  desire  to  see  them  carried  out 
in  a  new  church  near  my  factory.  I  will  secure 
a  hall,  fit  it  up  in  an  attractive  way,  pay  your 
salary  for  two  years,  and  give  a  lot  on  Broad 
Street  for  the  church  edifice." 

The  work  began  at  once.  The  whole  neigh- 
borhood was  canvassed  by  the  indefatigable  pas- 
tor, and  his  genuine  eloquence  soon  attracted  a 
large  congregation.  Earnest  workers  were  en- 
listed in  the  Sabbath  school.  Nearly  every  Pres- 
byterian church  in  the  city,  and  many  others  of 
kindred  denominations,  dismissed  faithful  mem- 


136  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

bers  to  the  new  field.  Their  interest  thus  be- 
came enlisted  in  the  new  enterprise,  and  Mr. 
Baldwin  was  soon  sustained  by  the  advice,  en- 
couragement, and  sympathy  of  a  large  body  of 
Christian  pastors.  But  advice  always  implies 
the  liberty  of  criticizing ;  and  it  was  soon  very 
evident  that  his  choice  of  a  pastor  was  not  en- 
tirely satisfactory  to  all.  So  long  as  he  could 
keep  this  quiet  opposition  from  the  knowledge 
of  the  pastor,  he  gave  it  no  attention.  But  he 
soon  found  that  it  was  exerting  a  depressing  in- 
fluence upon  Mr.  Adams,  who,  in  fact,  expressed 
the  determination  to  retire  from  the  field.  No- 
thing could  exceed  the  bright  and  genial  spirit 
with  which  he  endeavored  to  dispel  this  gather- 
ing despondency. 

"Come,  now,"  said  he  at  last,  "you  and  I  have 
made  one  bargain,  let  us  make  another :  you  leave 
these  good  brethren  to  me  for  six  months;  go 
on  with  your  work  that  long  without  a  thought 
of  their  antagonism ;  then  if  they  do  not  sing 
your  praises  as  loud  as  any  man,  I  will  let  you  go." 

His  prediction  was  fulfilled.  Perhaps  the  re- 
freshment of  such  sympathy  as  this  contributed 
more  than  anything  else  to  the  elasticity  of  mind 
and  fervency  of  spirit  in  the  new  pastor  which 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  I  37 

soon  secured  universal  approbation.  A  band  of 
united  Christian  men  soon  gathered  round  him, 
with  wealth,  and  liberality,  and  devotion  to  the 
good  work ;  and  the  ground  for  the  new  build- 
ing, on  the  corner  of  Broad  and  Green  Streets, 
was  soon  broken.  Meantime  the  outbreak  of 
the  Rebellion  had  created  a  panic  in  financial 
circles,  and  they  began  to  fear  that  Mr.  Bald- 
win's large  subscription  was  in  peril.  A  timid 
deputation  called  one  day  at  the  office,  and  made 
known  their  anxiety  to  one  of  the  clerks. 

"Is  Mr.  Baldwin's  signature  on  your  paper?" 
he  asked. 

They  displayed  the  well-known  autograph. 

"Make  your  contracts,  then,  without  hesita- 
tion. That  promise  is  as  good  as  gold  here, 
whenever  you  choose  to  apply." 

The  solid  stone  edifice,  beautiful  in  propor- 
tion and  commanding  in  position,  rose  rapidly 
to  completion.  On  its  dedication  it  was  filled 
by  an  intelligent  congregation.  And  Mr.  Bald- 
win lived  to  see  this  church  attain  a  member- 
ship of  450,  with  Sabbath  Schools  of  400 
members,  and  contributions  to  various  benevo- 
lent objects  amounting,  in  one  year,  to  more 
than  $50,000! 
18 


138  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


HERMON  CHURCH. 

It  was  a  favorite  idea  with  this  good  man  to 
name  the  several  churches  which  his  munifi- 
cence assisted  to  establish,  after  the  sacred  local- 
ities of  the  Bible.  He  proposed  to  give  the 
name  of  "Carmel"  to  the  North  Broad  Street 
Church,  and  failing  to  gain  the  consent  of  other 
contributors,  afterwards  suggested  this  name  for 
the  beautiful  chapel  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Oxford  Streets,  to  which  he  contributed  about 
eight  thousand  dollars.  His  last  church  edifice 
he  named  "Hermon."  This  he  intended  as  a 
grateful  offering  to  the  town  of  Frankford,  in 
remembrance  of  the  happy  days  of  his  appren- 
ticeship. It  proved  to  be  his  last  consecration 
of  wealth  to  the  glory  of  God. 

In  April,  1862,  he  purchased  a  lot  on  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Harrison  Streets,  about  half 
a  mile  north  of  any  evangelical  church.  Leav- 
ing about  100  feet  square  for  the  erection  of  a 
church  when  it  should  be  needed,  he  com- 
menced the  chapel  in  1865,  and  lived  to  see  it 
nearly  completed.  It  is  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful models  to  be  found  in  the  suburbs  of  the 


CHURCH  BUILDING.  139 

city,  built  of  the  gray  stone  to  be  found  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood.  A  few  weeks  pre- 
vious to  his  death,  feeling  that  he  might  not 
live  to  sign  the  title  papers,  he  directed  the 
grounds  and  chapel  to  be  conveyed  to  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Presbyterian  House,  for  the  use  of 
the  congregation  to  be  organized  in  this  part  of 
Frankford.  Thus  the  last  charity  of  his  life 
was  another  characteristic  anticipation  of  the 
future!  Surely  his  works  do  follow  him. 


HIS  LAST  YEARS. 

NOTHING  now  remains  of  our  task  but  the 
grateful  record  of  his  declining  years.  They 
were  overshadowed  with  continual  suffering ; 
but  his  hopes  and  purposes  were  ripening  on 
every  side.  He  was  assured  of  success  in  busi- 
ness, beyond  the  reach  of  any  calamities  which 
could  be  foreseen.  He  was  surrounded  with 
the  comforts  and  luxuries  of  his  well-earned 
affluence.  He  had  never  suffered  himself  to 
withdraw  capital  from  the  business  which  was 
supporting  so  many  families,  and  from  the  innu- 
merable charities  in  which  he  was  engaged,  in 
order  to  increase  his  own  comforts.  But  when 
these  higher  interests  were  secured,  he  felt  justi- 
fied in  realizing  his  cherished  dreams  of  a  home 
in  the  country,  where  his  rural  and  artistic  tastes 
could  be  indulged.  The  site  which  he  selected 
was  most  unpropitious;  but  it  had  an  irresistible 
fascination  for  him.  It  was  on  the  bank  of  the 
Delaware,  a  little  above  Frankford,  where  he 
had  passed  the  years  of  his  apprenticeship.  Here 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  141 

he  had  taken  his  evening  walks,  when  his  labors 
were  over,  and  looked  out  with  wonder  and 
hope  upon  his  opening  life.  He  had  stood  upon 
a  little  eminence  overlooking  marshy  grounds 
and  the  broad  river  beyond,  and  dreamed  of  a 
life  which  should  not  be  flooded  with  sins,  nor 
suffered  to  lie  waste  like  this  desolation.  And 
now,  as  a  type  of  the  success  he  had  achieved, 
he  resolved  to  redeem  this  waste  land,  and  turn 
it  into  a  beautiful  garden.  He  excluded  the 
river  by  a  solid  embankment;  he  drained  the 
inclosure  into  two  picturesque  ponds,  ornament- 
ed with  miniature  castles  for  the  shelter  of  rare 
aquatic  fowls.  The  flooding  of  these  ponds  by 
the  tides  was  made  to  pump  the  water  for  the 
premises  by  an  ingenious  contrivance.  The 
whole  farm  was  laid  out  into  a  landscape  of  the 
most  exquisite  design :  wild  land  was  subdued ; 
land  was  made  where  it  was  needed;  luxuriant 
soil  was  supplied;  the  richest  fruits  and  flowers 
were  produced  in  profusion ;  an  immense  green- 
house kept  the  vegetation  of  the  tropics  in  pe- 
rennial bloom. 

The  mansion,  which  stands  in  the  centre,  was 
worthy  of  the  place  and  the  man.  It  is  so  sym- 
metrical, and  combines  in  itself  such  a  variety 


142  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

of  designs,  that  its  magnitude  has  no  appearance 
of  ostentation :  an  air  of  simplicity  and  comfort 
pervades  the  whole  cluster  of  buildings  within 
the  inclosure.  And  even  the  cottages  of  the 
neighbors,  which  also  belong  to  him,  have  been 
built  after  a  common  design,  so  as  to  secure  at 
once  variety  and  symmetry,  so  far  as  the  eye  can 
reach. 

In  this  beautiful  home,  within  a  few  minutes' 
ride  of  the  city,  he  passed  the  summer  months 
of  his  declining  years.  But  these  were  not 
years  of  dignified  repose.  He  was  incessant  in 
his  application  to  business.  He  was  at  his  post 
in  the  office,  and  unwearied  in  the  inspection  of 
every  part  of  his  extensive  works.  And  nearly 
the  whole  of  the  work  of  church-building  which 
has  been  recorded  in  this  narrative,  was  carried 
on  during  these  years  of  comparative  rest. 

A  short  time  before  the  crisis  of  1857,  Mr. 
Baldwin  had  some  thoughts  of  retiring  from 
business.  The  crash  came  before  he  could 
complete  his  arrangements.  The  same  attempt 
was  renewed  once  afterwards,  at  a  time  of  great 
prosperity;  but  difficulties  arose  before  it  could 
be  carried  out.  He  alluded  to  these  facts  after- 
wards, when  asked  why  he  continued  his  labors 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  143 

when  his  age  and  infirm  health  would  justify 
his  retirement.  "God  has  rebuked  me,"  he 
said,  "every  time  I  have  thought  of  repose.  I 
believe  he  expects  me  to  die  in  the  harness." 
He  did  not  struggle  against  the  designs  of  Pro- 
vidence. He  was  a  hard-working  man  to  the 
last. 

To  his  last  days  his  most  agreeable  recreation 
from  the  excessive  cares  of  business  and  charity 
was  the  exercise  of  ingenuity.  He  retained  in 
the  office  the  little  vice  and  lathe,  and  all  the 
tools  employed  in  the  jewelry  business.  He 
repaired  the  jewelry  of  his  family  with  his  own 
hands;  and  the  machinery  of  a  watch,  taken 
apart  and  carefully  assorted,  was  found  in  his 
drawer  after  death;  showing  how  his  last  hours 
at  the  bench  had  been  employed.  He  was 
always  intent  upon  improving  this  indispensable 
article.  He  carried  for  many  years  a  watch  to 
which  he  had  added  a  self-winding  adjustment, 
and  also  a  repeating  apparatus  of  most  ingenious 
construction.  He  was  urged  by  those  who  were 
experienced  in  this  trade,  to  secure  a  patent. 
But  he  exhibited  his  invention  freely  to  the 
Swiss  manufacturers,  by  whom  it  was  greatly 
admired,  and  told  them  they  were  welcome  to 


144  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

adopt  any  features  of  it  which  would  be  valuable. 
He  had  been  well  paid  for  his  exertion  in  the 
recreation  it  had  afforded  him. 

This  favorite  employment  of  spare  hours  ar- 
rested the  attention  of  all  who  were  ever  admit- 
ted to  his  private  office.  "Whenever  I  called 
there,"  says  Rev.  E.  E.  Adams,  D.  D.,  "I  found 
him  in  his  little  corner  engaged  in  making  some 
article  of  fancy  or  of  utility — a  spring,  a  wheel, 
a  ring,  repairing  a  knife,  or  a  watch,  or  working 
out  some  delicate  invention.  On  one  occasion 
he  was  busily  engaged  in  repairing,  for  a  lady 
friend,  a  splendid  inlaid  table.  Having  a  beau- 
tiful cane,  the  silver  ring  of  which  was  worn 
out,  I  asked  if  he  would  like  another  job.  He 
took  the  cane  with  a  smile,  and  in  a  few  min- 
utes completed  a  new  ring.  This,  to  me,  is  a 
precious  memento  of  his  friendship  and  of  his 
charming  simplicity."  The  closing  words  of 
this  communication  from  Dr.  Adams  have  a 
touching  interest  from  subsequent  events;  they 
show  how  early  Mr.  Baldwin  began  to  fear  that 
disease  would  silence  that  voice  which  had  ga- 
thered by  its  own  fascination  the  great  congre- 
gation on  Broad  Street,  and  had  influenced  for 
good  the  whole  community.  "  During  the 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  145 

spring  of  1866,  he  manifested  great  solicitude 
for  my  health,  and  insisted  on  taking  me  often 
to  his  own  physician,  in  whose  skill  he  had 
great  confidence.  It  was  a  great  grief  to  me 
that  I  did  not  earlier  learn  of  his  last  illness,  and 
have  an  interview  with  him  once  again  before 
the  silver  cord  was  loosed  and  the  golden  bowl 
was  broken.  And  now  that  he  is  no  more 
among  us,  save  by  his  hallowed  influence,  I 
miss,  in  common  with  others,  the  manly  piety, 
the  noble  benevolence,  and  the  burning  patriot- 
ism which,  as  a  halo  of  glory,  crowned  his  life." 
In  the  summer  of  1860  he  indulged  himself 
in  the  only  extensive  tour  of  pleasure  he  ever 
enjoyed.  He  travelled  over  Great  Britain  and 
the  continent  of  Europe.  His  interest  was  na- 
turally excited  by  the  improvements  in  ma- 
chinery, and  the  application  of  science  to  the 
pursuits  of  industry.  Still,  he  purposely  forgot 
business  as  much  as  possible,  and  devoted  most 
of  his  time  and  thoughts  to  the  study  of  the 
rich  treasures  of  art  in  the  old  country.  His 
early  tastes  had  now  matured,  and  he  added 
many  gems  to  his  extensive  collection  of  rare 
paintings.  But  these  fascinating  pursuits  were 
interrupted  once  by  an  alarming  attack  of  the 


146  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

disease  from  which  he  had  been  long  suffering. 
It  was  doubtful  whether  he  would  ever  return. 
But  his  own  serenity  was  undisturbed.  His  only 
anxiety  was  for  those  who  would  be  mourners 
in  a  strange  land. 

He  returned  home  to  find  his  country  agitated 
by  the  most  intense  political  excitement  which 
he  had  witnessed  during  the  whole  of  his  event- 
ful life.  He  was  just  commencing  business  for 
himself  when  the  Missouri  Compromise  intro- 
duced the  question  of  American  Slavery  as  the 
controlling  element  of  party  organizations.  He 
finished  his  first  locomotive  when  Disunion  was 
first  threatened  by  the  acts  of  nullification  in 
South  Carolina.  He  was  called  from  his  busiest 
labors  upon  the  improved  draft  engines,  to  vote 
upon  the  same  question  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  his  State.  During  these  forty 
years,  when  so  many  of  our  best  and  wisest  men 
were  groping  after  correct  opinions,  Mr.  Bald- 
•  win  had  never  had  occasion  to  change  his  own. 
It  is  no  depreciation  of  those  who  have  given 
earnest  heed  to  the  solemn  lessons  of  this  dread- 
ful conflict,  to  award  higher  praise  to  those  who 
were  right  from  the  beginning.  The  conserva- 
tives of  1837,  the  abolitionists  of  the  last  half 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  147 

century,  the  radicals  of  to-day,  have  held  their 
ground  unmoved  by  prejudice  and  denunciation; 
they  have  been  the  moral  instructors  of  this  na- 
tion. God  has  vindicated  their  wisdom.  Mr. 
Baldwin  was  never  a  loud  talker  concerning 
these  or  any  other  sentiments.  We  have  seen 
how  he  made  them  speak  in  his  actions.  No 
considerations  of  popularity  nor  of  his  own  inte- 
rest could  move  him  from  the  manly  assertion 
of  his  moral  convictions.  The  fact  is  well 
known  that  a  rival  company  issued  secret  circu- 
lars, and  sent  them  all  over  the  South,  at  the 
time  when  the  prejudice  against  abolitionists 
was  at  its  height,  denouncing  him  as  one  of  the 
most  radical  of  them.  Much  of  his  business 
was  then  at  the  South,  where  his  machines  were 
always  highly  esteemed.  His  correspondents 
wrote  in  the  greatest  alarm,  to  ask  if  the  asser- 
tions of  this  "black  list"  were  true.  His  reply 
was  full  of  dignity  and  firmness.  He  denied 
the  right  of  any  man  to  question  him  on  politi- 
cal opinions  in  business  transactions.  "If  I  do 
not  fulfil  my  contracts,  or  if  my  work  is  not 
satisfactory,  your  complaints  are  pertinent."  But 
rather  than  suffer  his  silence  to  be  construed  into 
indifference  to  what  he  believed  to  be  a  moral 


148  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

wrong,  he  gave  them  the  most  frank  and  cour- 
teous statement  of  his  views.  His  own  interests 
never  exerted  the  slightest  influence  upon  his 
conscience.  Yet  in  this  instance  honesty  proved 
to  be  the  best  policy.  The  falling  off  of  his 
southern  orders  began  just  in  time  to  save  him 
from  ruin  by  rebel  repudiation.  His  enemies 
fell  into  the  pit  they  digged  for  him. 

But  the  Rebellion  of  1861  afforded  him  the 
opportunity  for  a  still  more  emphatic  expression 
of  his  life-long  convictions.  He  received  let- 
ters from  a  relative  at  the  South,  in  violent  de- 
nunciation of  the  principles  which  had  just  been 
affirmed  at  the  polls.  He  replied  at  length,  re- 
peating the  opinions  he  had  always  held,  and  in 
the  most  spirited  language,  predicting  their  ulti- 
mate triumph.  These  letters,  the  only  ones  he 
ever  wrote  in  his  life,  of  any  public  interest,  are 
probably  destroyed.  They  would  be  a  treasure 
indeed!  His  zeal  for  the  good  cause,  which 
was  now  in  peril,  sometimes  overcame  his  con- 
stitutional reluctance  to  appear  in  prominent 
public  positions.  He  'consented  to  preside  at 
patriotic  meetings.  As  chairman  of  the  public 
assembly  which  welcomed  the  brave  colored 
sailor,  Robert  Small,  who  carried  the  little 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  149 

steamer  Planter  out  of  Charleston  harbor  during 
the  war,  he  introduced  him  as  "one  worthy  to 
be  an  admiral."  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  city  of  Philadelphia,  so  justly  praised  for  its 
patriotism  and  hospitality  to  the  soldiers,  suffered 
the  ineffaceable  shame  of  excluding  this  noble 
seaman  from  its  public  conveyances,  on  account 
of  the  color  of  his  skin.  Mr.  Baldwin  gladly 
accepted  the  invitation  of  his  fellow-citizens  to 
preside  over  another  meeting  called  to  protest 
against  an  outrage  of  this  kind,  and  to  assert  the 
right  of  all  men  to  the  enjoyment  of  those  pub- 
lic conveniences  for  which  they  are  taxed.  And 
he  lived  to  see  the  principles  he  then  defended, 
nobly  enunciated  by  the  President  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  of  Philadelphia.* 

But  this  sense  of  justice,  and  unconscious  su- 
periority to  the  prejudices  of  his  time,  were  not 
the  fruits  of  any  excitements  growing  out  of 
the  war.  In  this,  as  in  everything  else,  he  never 
followed,  but  always  led  public  opinion.  A  fact 
in  proof  of  this  is  well  remembered  by  many 
of  the  older  employees  in  the  factory.  Many 

*  A  few  months  after  his  death  the  right  to  equal  privileges  in 
public  conveyances  was  secured  by  an  enactment  of  the  Legislature 
of  Pennsylvania. 


150  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

years  ago  a  colored  man  applied  for  work,  and 
was  employed  at  once  in  the  boiler  shop.  The 
foreman  in  this  department  was  one  of  the  most 
valuable  men  in  the  whole  works,  and  the  posi- 
tion had  always  been  a  difficult  one  to  fill.  As 
soon  as  he  saw  the  new  recruit  in  his  place  he 
made  a  violent  protest,  and  insisted  upon  his 
discharge. 

"  Certainly,"  was  Mr.  Baldwin's  reply,  "  if  he 
is  not  a  good  hand  he  shall  be  discharged  on 
the  spot." 

The  discontented  man  had  too  much  justice 
to  deny  that  he  understood  his  business  and 
worked  faithfully. 

"What,  then,  is  your  objection  to  him?" 
"He  is  a  nigger,  and  he  must  leave,  or  I  will." 
"  Pack  up,  then,  and  be  off  with  you." 
There  was  no  appeal  from  this  decision.    The 
foreman  marched,  and  the  negro  kept  his  place 
till  he  died. 

Mr.  Baldwin  loved  the  soldiers  who  were  de- 
fending at  once  his  country  and  his  principles. 
He  always  had  a  friendly  word  for  the  brave 
men,  and  every  effort  for  their  comfort  and  spi- 
ritual good  received  his  warmest  sympathy  and 
generous  assistance.  Besides  the  daily  opportu- 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  151 

nities  for  private  relief  of  suffering  incident  to 
the  war,  the  books  at  the  office  show  that  im- 
mense sums  were  given  away  by  the  firm  of  M. 
W.  Baldwin  &  Co.  to  the  United  States  Sanitary 
and  the  Christian  Commissions,  and  other  or- 
ganizations for  the  relief  of  the  suffering  soldiers 
of  our  grand  armies  and  their  families. 

Mr.  Baldwin  took  an  early  and  especial  part 
in  the  Sanitary  Commission,  an  organization 
which  accomplished  more  for  the  physical  relief 
of  the  wounded  soldiers  in  the  late  war  than 
had  ever  before  been  accomplished  in  the  his- 
tory of  warfare.  He  attended  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Commission  in  Philadelphia  on  Novem- 
ber 7th,  1 86 1,  and  was  an  efficient  member  of 
the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Philadelphia 
Associates  from  November  nth,  1861,  the  date 
of  its  formation,  until  his  death,  his  attendance 
being  regular,  and  his  interest  in  the  work  of 
the  Commission  very  marked. 

In  February,  1865,  the  Pastor  of  Calvary 
Church  expressed,  at  a  meeting  of  Session,  the 
conviction  that  he  ought  to  leave  his  work  for 
a  time,  to  preach  to  the  soldiers,  and  labor  with 
the  Christian  Commission  for  their  comfort. 
Anticipating  some  reluctance  on  the  part  of  the 


152  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Session  to  suffer  their  work  to  be  interrupted, 
he  was  about  to  enlarge  upon  the  needs  of  the 
army,  and  the  revivals  of  religion  in  their  en- 
campments, when  Mr.  Baldwin  broke  in : — 

"I  move  that  the  leave  of  absence  be  granted 
at  once.  Our  pastors  can  do  us  more  good  in 
the  field  than  at  home." 

He  went;  and  came  back,  as  thousands  of 
other  ministers  came  all  over  the  land,  to  tell 
the  wonderful  story  of  God's  blessing  in  the 
field,  and  to  appeal  for  more  money  to  help  on 
the  good  work.  As  this  meeting  was  in  the 
evening,  when  Mr.  Baldwin  would  be  unable  to 
be  present,  he  took  occasion  to  say  to  him  in 
the  afternoon : — 

"I  am  going  to  beg  for  the  Christian  Com- 
mission this  evening.  You  will  not  be  there; 
but  you  know  the  story  as  well  as  I  can  tell  it. 
I  wish  you  would  let  me  count  in  your  contri- 
bution with  the  rest." 

"  I  'm  sorry  to  say  this  will  be  impossible,"  he 
replied;  "for  this  is  one  of  the  objects  to  which 
my  partner  and  I  contribute  from  the  Company 
funds,  and  he  is  absent.  Tell  Stuart  to  send 
round  in  a  few  days.  However,"  he  added, 
after  a  moment's  reflection,  "here  is  a  trifle 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  153 

from  my  own  pocket  to  put  into  the  box  to- 
night." 

The  trifle  was  One  Thousand  Dollars! 

His  love  for  the  soldier  made  him  very  cha- 
ritable in  judging  his  faults.  It  is  well  known 
that  he  held  for  years  the  office  of  Inspector  of 
the  City  Prison.  The  inspectors  had  the  dis- 
cretionary power  of  discharging  persons  under 
arrest  for  vagrancy,  drunkenness,  and  petty  of- 
fences. He  was  always  inclined  to  the  side  of 
leniency,  if  justice  were  not  to  be  sacrificed  in 
the  exercise  of  this  power;  but  especially  when 
he  saw  the  bronzed  face  of  a  veteran  in  the 
motley  throng,  his  sympathy  was  immediately 
excited. 

"  See  that  fine  fellow !  He 's  a  soldier !  There 
are  some  of  the  buttons  on  his  coat  yet.  My 
dear  boy,"  he  would  add,  with  a  hand  upon  his 
shoulder,  "you'll  keep  clear  of  the  sharpies  and 
the  rum  shops  if  we  '11  let  you  off  this  time, 
won't  you?" 

The  simplicity  of  his  tastes  and  generous  im- 
pulses of  his  heart  always  restrained  him  from 
display  in  his  domestic  arrangements.  After 
his  business  assumed  the  grand  proportions  of 
the  Broad  Street  factory,  he  was  often  urged  by 

20 


154  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

his  friends  to  sell  the  Tenth  Street  house  and 
begin  to  live  in  the  style  of  a  man  of  fortune. 
He  resisted,  and  after  the  embarrassments  of 
1837,  he  met  one  of  them  with  a  smile  of  tri- 
umph, exclaiming:  "How  should  I  feel  now, 
selling  my  fine  house,  if  I  had  taken  your  ad- 
vice!" This  caution  in  increasing  personal  ex- 
penses should  be  considered  by  those  who  blamed 
him  for  his  indiscriminate  charities.  He  regard- 
ed the  slightest  debt,  incurred  for  his  own  grati- 
fication, as  an'  unwarrantable  risk.  But  a  note 
of  hand  for  thousands  in  the  cause  of  beneficence 
was  only  trusting  God's  promises.  Nothing  ever 
distressed  him  so  much  as  to  be  obliged  to  cur- 
tail his  charities.  Even  the  comfortable  house 
on  Spruce  Street,  which  he  purchased  after  his 
fortune  was  made,  had  none  of  the  ostentation 
of  affluence.  And  at  last,  in  1864,  he  made  his 
final  move.  He  was  then  abundantly  able  to 
build  a  marble  monument  to  perpetuate  his 
name  in  one  of  the  aristocratic  precincts  of  the 
city.  But,  to  the  surprise  of  every  one,  he  pur- 
chased a  substantial  old-fashioned  brick  building 
in  the  busiest  part  of  Chestnut  Street. 

"  Why  should  I  banish  myself  from  my  fellow 
creatures?"  he  said.     "I  have  tried  to  live  for 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  155 

their  good,  and  should  I  run  away  from  them 
in  my  old  age?  I  want  to  see  the  world,  and 
have  them  see  the  things  I  enjoy,  if  it  will  afford 
them  any  pleasure  or  instruction." 

This  was  the  secret  of  his  selection,  as  he 
confessed  in  private  conversation  afterwards. 

"When  I  was  a  journeyman  I  used  to  enjoy 
looking  at  the  prints  and  paintings  exposed  for 
sale.  I  think  I  acquired  my  first  taste  for  art  in 
this  way.  And  sometimes,  when  I  saw  the  top 
of  a  green-house  over  a  high  garden  wall,  I  used 
to  wonder  why  men  wanted  to  hide  the  beauti- 
ful things  which  God  made  to  be  seen.  I  made 
up  my  mind  then,  that  if  I  ever  possessed  any 
treasures  of  art  or  nature,  I  would  give  the  jour- 
neymen a  chance  to  enjoy  them  too!'* 

The  time  had  come  at  last  to  realize  his 
dream!  He  carried  his  rare  paintings  to  the 
grand  old  house  where  all  the  world  could  find 
them  easily.  No  one  ever  asked  to  "see  the 
pictures"  and  was  refused.  He  threw  his  mag- 
nificent parlors  open  every  winter,  to  soirees  of 
music,  where  the  gems  of  the  old  masters  were 
rendered. 

"What  a  multitude  of  friends  you  are  enter- 
taining this  evening!"  a  neighbor  would  say  to 
him  on  such  occasions. 


156  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

"Yes;  I  never  saw. one  in  a  dozen  before,  to 
my  knowledge;  but  if  they  love  to  hear  the 
symphonies  of  Beethoven  played  like  that,  they 
are  all  friends  of  mine." 

But  the  crowning  feature  of  the  Chestnut 
Street  house  was  a  conservatory  of  rare  flowers 
and  tropical  plants,  which  he  fitted  into  the 
space  between  his  house  and  the  granite  front 
of  the  Sunday  School  Union  Depository.  Here, 
on  cold  winter  days,  pine  apples  and  oranges 
were  ripening,  and  the  richest  flowers  were  in 
full  bloom.  The  vapors  were  kept  carefully 
wiped  from  the  glass,  and  the  plants  were  all 
arranged  so  as  to  be  seen  to  the  best  advantage 
from  the  sidewalk.  The  first  "opening"  of 
this  unique  device  caused  a  "sensation  on  Chest- 
nut Street;"  and  scarcely  a  day  passed  without  a 
crowd  collected  here  from  morning  till  night. 
The  servants  were  annoyed  a  little  by  answering 
the  bell  for  those  who  wanted  to  buy.  But  they 
were  consoled  when  they  saw  how  much  hap- 
pier their  kind  employer  was,  than  any  of  the 
multitude  on  whom  he  conferred  this  pleasure. 
It  was  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive. 
The  thankful  looks  from  that  endless  procession, 
the  letters  of  thanks  which  everybody  wrote  or 
desired  to  write,  in  return  for  this  unique  work 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  157 

of  beneficence,  were  among  the  sweetest  joys  of 
his  declining  years. 

But  he  was  not  satisfied  with  furnishing  ra- 
tional enjoyment  to  the  masses.  He  longed  to 
have  them  all  experience  the  blessings  of  the 
Christian  life.  His  religious  zeal  had  never 
been  obtrusive,  but  always  earnest  and  aggres- 
sive. And  toward  the  close  of  life  he  became 
more  and  more  anxious  to  see  souls  coming  to 
the  Saviour.  He  had  never  lost  the  revival  spirit 
of  Dr.  Skinner.  The  religious  awakening  of 
1858  called  forth  his  unwearied  exertions  and 
unfaltering  faith.  Again  in  the  spring  of  1865 
he  rejoiced  to  see  lost  sinners  finding  refuge  in 
redeeming  love.  The  sudden  closing  of  the 
Rebellion,  and  the  bereavement  of  a  whole  peo- 
ple mourning  for  their  father,  seemed  to  hush 
the  nation  with  a  stillness  of  religious  awe  and 
expectation.  Great  revivals  of  religion  followed 
almost  immediately  in  many  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, and  Philadelphia  shared  the  blessing  in  some 
measure.  From  the  very  first  Mr.  Baldwin  was 
outspoken  in  his  approval  of  any  measures  which 
the  Spirit  of  God  undoubtedly  owned  and  blessed. 
In  this,  as  in  everything  else,  he  proved  himself 
superior  to  prejudice.  It  is  well  known  that  he 


158  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

always  approved  of  a  more  elaborate  and  artistic 
style  of  music  than  Christians  generally  find 
conducive  to  the  devotional  spirit.  He  did  not 
believe  in  congregational  singing  in  the  Sabbath 
services.  "I  want  the  organ,  and  the  most  cul- 
tivated voices  that  can  be  obtained,  to  bear  my 
soul  to  heaven,  so  that  I  cannot  sing  if  I  should 
desire."  No  one  who  enjoyed  Mr.  Baldwin's 
confidence  could  doubt  that  this  style  of  music, 
which  so  often  dissipates  devotional  feeling,  was 
a  means  of  grace  to  him.  But  the  moment  he 
saw  that  simpler  melodies  were  winning  souls 
to  Christ,  he  forgot  his  own  tastes,  and  joined 
with  all  his  heart  in  singing  "Come  to  Jesus." 
"There  is  neither  poetry  nor  music  in  these 
songs,"  he  used  to  say;  "but  what  of  that?  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  in  them,  and  God  has  chosen  the 
foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the 
wise."  He  never  could  bear  to  be  asked  whe- 
ther he  liked  the  manner  of  any  zealous  brother 
who  was  doing  good.  "Who  am  I  to  like  or 
dislike?  He  is  casting  out  devils  in  the  name 
of  Jesus.  Woe  is  me  if  I  forbid  him  because 
he  follows  not  after  me !" 

He  had  long  been  prevented  by  his  feeble 
health  from  attending  the  evening  prayer  meet- 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  159 

ings  of  his  church.  But  now  a  daily  morning 
prayer  meeting  was  appointed,  and  for  more 
than  two  months  he  was  always  in  his  place, 
urging  the  impenitent  to  seek  salvation  with- 
out delay.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  fea- 
tures of  this  work  of  grace  was  the  eagerness  of 
inquirers  to  converse  personally  with  Christians. 
He  often  remained  an  hour  after  the  meeting 
to  tell  the  story  of  the  cross  in  simple  and  sub- 
dued tones,  to  burdened  hearts.  As  Supeuin- 
tendent  of  the  Sabbath  School,  his  whole  soul 
was  drawn  out  in  prayer  for  the  children.  And 
when  a  large  number  of  them  came  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  church,  he  welcomed  them 
heartily.  He  did  not  share  the  fears  of  many 
good  men,  that  young  children  would  be  inca- 
pable of  comprehending  and  fulfilling  the  cove- 
nant of  the  church.  "Jesus  says,  Suffer  little 
children  to  come  unto  me,  for  theirs  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven.  The  church  of  Christ  belongs 
to  the  children."  The  feelings  of  his  heart  hit 
upon  the  correct  meaning  of  this  text,  which  so 
many  learned  men,  like  our  translators,  have 
missed.  And  he  always  manifested  the  tenderest 
interest,  as  an  officer  of  the  church,  to  cherish 
and  encourage  the  piety  of  these  lambs  of  the 
flock. 


160  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

Thus  his  last  days  passed  away  in  works  of 
surpassing  usefulness,  in  unexampled  benevo- 
lence, and  in  unwearied  labors  in  spiritual  reli- 
gion. He  was  a  member  of  the  Third  Presby- 
tery of  Philadelphia  in  April,  1866,  and  repeated 
the  testimony  he  had  so  often  borne,  in  favor  of 
a  larger  liberality,  and  a  more  spiritual  mind,  in 
the  labors  of  the  gospel.  These  were  his  last 
words  to  the  Church  of  Christ :  long  may  they 
be  remembered! 

His  health  was  now  rapidly  failing.  About 
this  time  the  previous  summer  he  had  felt  him- 
self to  be  very  near  the  grave.  When  he  reco- 
vered, he  expressed  very  freely,  in  conversation, 
the  impressions  he  then  experienced.  He  felt 
a  natural  shock  at  the  near  contemplation  of 
death,  but  soon  recovered  the  joys  of  full  assur- 
ance. He  had  no  desire  to  live.  "The  good 
works  in  which  I  am  engaged  must  be  carried 
on  without  my  help  very  soon.  The  friends 
who  love  me  cannot  expect  to  retain  me  with 
them  very  long.  Why  should  I  desire  to  have 
my  sufferings  continued?  If  the  will  of  God  be 
so,  it  is  better  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ." 
Yet  he  cheerfully  accepted  the  duties  of  pro- 
longed life.  He  went  back  to  the  "consecrated 
office"  again.  There  he  listened  patiently  to  the 


HIS  LAST  YEARS.  l6l 

many  appeals  for  charities  every  day.  He  was 
always  in  his  place  on  the  Sabbath,  in  the  Sab- 
bath School  and  in  the  Session.  He  increased 
largely  his  contribution  to  every  benevolent  ob- 
ject. One  of  his  last  acts  was  to  double  his 
annual  donation  to  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

But  one  day  in  June,  1866,  he  was  observed 
to  approach  the  office  with  a  very  feeble  step. 
He  tried  to  pursue  his  favorite  employment,  but 
he  would  drop  the  tools  with  a  gesture  of  pain. 
The  calls  for  donations  seemed  to  be  the  only 
diversion  which  could  make  him  forget  his  in- 
tense suffering.  Early  in  the  afternoon  he  left 
the  scene  of  his  labors  and  his  success  never  to 
return.  He  went  back  to  die  in  his  home  at 
Wissinoming. 


21 


HIS  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH. 

THE  summer  passed  in  almost  constant  suffer- 
ing of  body,  but  in  the  peace  of  mind  which 
passeth  all  understanding.  On  two  occasions  he 
enjoyed  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  his  lifelong 
friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Barnes.  In  the  grateful  recol- 
lections of  the  past  they  almost  forgot  the  ap- 
proach of  the  king  of  terrors.  It  was  only  at 
the  close  of  the  final  interview  that  Mr.  Barnes 
lost  his  accustomed  serenity,  and  threw  his  arms 
around  his  beloved  friend,  crying : 

"  O  my  brother,  my  brother,  I  cannot  spare 
you  yet!" 

He  came  to  console  the  afflicted;  but  he  re- 
ceived consolation  from  the  dying. 

At  six'  o'clock  precisely,  on  the  afternoon  of 
Friday,  September  7,  1866,  just  as  the  busy-hum 
of  labor  in  his  great  manufactory  ceased,  he 
quietly  sank  to  rest.  There  was  a  sublimity  in 
the  last  scene  which  cannot  be  described.  Sur- 
rounded with  a  profusion  of  everything  which 
made  life  desirable,  he  was  surrendering  life 


HIS  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH.  163 

without  regret.  The  breath  of  summer  came 
into  his  beautiful  mansion,  freighted  with  the 
perfume  of  the  rare  flowers  his  hand  had 
planted,  and  the  songs  of  the  birds  his  forest  of 
beauty  had  invited.  From  the  window  he  could 
look  over  the  broad  acres  which  had  been  re- 
deemed from  desolation,  so  suggestive  of  the 
multitudes  who  had  been  raised  from  misery  by 
his  beneficence. 

But  when  these  recollections  of  a  well-spent 
life  were  suggested  as  a  ground  of  consolation 
in  the  present  trial,  his  face  would  brighten  with 
a  far  more  precious  recollection.  "All  of  grace ! 
all  of  grace!  God  has  given  me  great  opportu- 
nities for  doing  good.  But  the  disposition  to  do 
good  was  something  still  better.  This  I  owe  to 
the  grace  of  God,  in  Jesus  Christ  my  Saviour." 

There  was  no  transport  in  the  last  hour.  He 
had  never  been  subject  to  the  vicissitudes  of  ex- 
cited feeling.  Habitual  calmness  and  repose 
reigned  supreme  in  his  spirit  throughout  his 
eventful  life.  His  last  struggle  was  equally  free 
from  the  extremes  of  pain  and  of  rapture.  In 
perfect  peace,  and  undisturbed  confidence  in  the 
mercy  of  God,  he  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 

No  words  can  express  the  grief  and  conster- 


164  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

nation  which  the  announcement  of  this  event 
caused  throughout  the  community.  That  he 
was  a  great  sufferer  was  well  known.  But  he 
had  engaged  in  such  extensive  works  of  benefi- 
cence since  his  infirmities  had  confined  him  to 
the  house  for  the  greater  part  of  every  summer, 
that  more  enlarged  plans  of  usefulness  than  ever 
before,  had  been  undertaken  in  confident  reli- 
ance upon  his  support.  And  now  in  a  moment 
this  "pillar  in  the  Temple  of  God"  had  fallen! 
In  the  first  tumult  of  distress  for  our  own  irre- 
parable loss,  we  may  be  forgiven  for  not  reflect- 
ing that  the  pillar  was  not  fallen,  only  transferred 
to  a  fairer  temple  on  high,  whence  he  should 
go  no  more  out;  on  him  was  now  written  the 
name  of  God,  and  the  name  of  the  city  of  God, 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  which  cometh  down  from 
heaven,  even  Jesus'  own  new  name.  For,  alas! 
we  had  no  ear  then  to  hear  what  the  Spirit  said 
to  the  churches! 

Farewell,  brave,  beautiful  life !  It  was  like  a 
clear  and  bounteous  river,  which,  encountering 
obstacles  in  its  course,  finds  new  and  enlarged 
channels,  and  supplies  nourishment  to  broad 
wastes  of  land,  while  it  loses  nothing  of  the 
purity  and  the  abundance  of  its  own  waters. 


HIS  SICKNESS  AND  DEATH.  165 

But,  alas!  it  has  disappeared  out  of  our  sight, 
like  the  streams  of  the  East  which  suddenly 
sink  into  the  sands  of  the  desert.  A  desert,  in- 
deed, will  this  life  appear  to  multitudes  without 
the  bounties  of  his  hand  and  the  priceless  sym- 
pathy of  his  loving  heart. 

Can  we  suffer  so  much  good  to  perish  out  of 
this  world  utterly  ?  Shall  all  the  virtues  of  the 
Christian  life  form  the  subject  of  his  epitaph 
and  the  magnificence  of  his  tomb?  Shall  the 
affection  which  followed  him  all  his  life  strive 
in  vain  bewilderment  to  be  his  companion  in 
death  ?  Shall  our  grateful  hearts  be  his  mauso- 
leums? 

Oh,  not  in  dead  hearts  must  such  a  name  be 
cherished!  Let  life,  and  courage,  and  hope,  and 
faith  be  the  offerings  we  bring  to  his  memory. 
Let  us  turn  from  the  oppressive  contemplation 
of  the  dead  to  adoring  trust  in  Him  who  was 
dead  and  is  alive,  and  behold  He  liveth  for  ever- 
more, that  from  the  fountain  of  His  everlasting 
grace  we  may  receive  those  virtues  which  we 
have  now  admired,  and  enter  into  that  inherit- 
ance which  made  the  day  of  our  mourning  the 
day  of  his  glory  and  triumph ! 


THE  DEATH   OF  GOD'S  PEOPLE 

NO  LOSS 
TO  GOD'S  CHURCH. 


A  SERMON, 

OCCASIONED    BY    THE 

DEATH  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN, 

AT  HIS  RESIDENCE  NEAR  FRANKFORD, 
SEPTEMBER  7,  1866. 


PREACHED  IN  ST.  MARK'S  CHURCH,  FRANKFORD,  SEPTEMBER  9,  1866, 
BY  THE  RECTOR,  REV.  D.  S.  MILLER,  D.  D. 


"  Help,  Lord,  for  the  godly  man  ceaseth,  for  the  faithful  fail  from  among  the  children 
of  men."— PSALM  xn.  I. 

THESE  words  of  the  Psalmist  have  found  an 
echo  in  the  hearts  of  God's  people,  in  all  their 
generations  to  this  day,  whenever  it  has  pleased 
Him  to  take  his  eminent  servants  to  Himself. 
The  Church  in  the  midst  of  the  evil  world,  is 
forced  against  the  higher  spiritual  judgment  of 
the  believer  to  depend  more  upon  human  in- 
strumentalities than  becomes  the  calling  unto 
God  through  Jesus  Christ,  and  lives  too  much 
by  sight  and  not  by  faith.  But  God  has  done 
all  his  great  work  for  his  people  and  his  service 
by  the  men  he  has  sent  upon  his  Missions;  and 
when  He  invests  them  with  his  favor  and  blesses 
22 


I/O  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS.  W.  BALDWIN. 

them  in  all  they  do,  and  by  their  labors  increases, 
upholds,  and  defends  his  Fold,  they  that  are  the 
sheep  of  his  pasture  are  easily  led  to  fear  when 
these  sources  of  their  comforts  are  withdrawn, 
when  the  means  of  their  defence  are  withheld, 
and  they  are  left  alone  without  accustomed 
Guards  and  Guides. 

These  remarks  are  suggested  by  the  event 
which  has  occurred  within  a  few  hours,  in  our 
own  vicinity,  in  the  death  of  Mr.  Baldwin.  He 
had  achieved  by  his  talent,  his  successful  skill, 
and  his  still  increasing  fortune,  a  power  and  a 
place  among  us  in  this  city,  which  all  will  ac- 
knowledge ;  and  he  used  these  advantages,  not  in 
the  way  of  sin  and  of  mere  selfish  pleasure,  but 
for  the  good  of  others,  in  great  part,  and  for  the 
glory  of  God.  He  honestly  and  fairly  paid  the 
tribute  of  his  wealth  and  name  to  his  Maker ; 
and  he  was  known  not  more  widely  as  a  success- 
ful manufacturer  and  a  wealthy  citizen  than  as  a 
Christian,  a  member  of  Christ's  Church,  and  as 
one  who  professed  to  go  in  the  way  of  good 
rather  than  evil.  Now,  as  place  and  power  are 
of  immense  influence  over  men,  and  used  for 
sinful  ends,  make  fearful  mischief  among  us, 
hindering  the  good  and  hardening  the  wrong,  it 


A  SERMON.  171 

is  a  singular  blessing  when  they  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  godly;  and  it  is  not  strange  that 
Christians  should  mourn  when  such  as  these  die 
and  are  no  longer  able  to  wield  their  influence 
for  God.  The  command  of  men  which  belongs 
to  extensive  manufacturing  operations,  such  as 
Mr.  Baldwin  was  engaged  in,  is  a  fearful  talent 
when  used  to  encourage  sin :  how  can  we  feel 
anything  but  regret  when  he  who  made  it  a  bless- 
ing ceases  to  rule.  The  name  which  such  as  he 
wins  among  his  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens,  a 
name  coupled  with  the  possession  of  costly  resi- 
dences, expensive  luxuries,  skill  in  a  notable 
profession,  and  large  wealth,  such  a  name  if 
held  as  a  synonym  for  vice  or  dishonor,  is  a  po- 
tent agent  for  Satan;  but  when,  as  in  the  case 
of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  it  stood  for  Religion, 
for  Benevolence,  for  God's  Honor,  for  Sunday- 
School  teaching,  for  the  care  of  the  poor,  the 
sick,  and  the  ignorant,  for  building  of  Houses  of 
God,  then  it  is  something  for  Christians  to  be 
thankful  for  while  they  have  it,  and  to  mourn 
over  when  God  takes  it  away. 

The  common  life  of  every  man  makes  up  a 
gospel  of  sin  or  salvation  which  reads  like  a 
New  Testament  commentary  in  a  Christian  age. 


IJ2  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

But  more  particularly  is  it  so  when  the  history 
is  that  of  a  progress  from  small  to  great  means ; 
a  growth  in  talent,  repute,  skill,  wealth,  and  use- 
fulness, and  when  finally  it  is  all  consecrate  to 
God,  like  the  Cross  topping  the  pile  and  devoting 
it  to  holy  ends.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  at  one  time  a 
resident  in  this  vicinity,  practising  his  first  art 
on  this  very  street,  a  young  man  without  other 
means  than  a  true  head,  heart,  and  hands.  Here 
he  married  and  began  the  world.  But  he  is 
known  to  us  now  by  a  great  and  tasteful  man- 
sion, and  by  all  the  appliances  of  position  and 
large  fortune.  He  has  won  his  way  from  the 
one  to  the  other  by  God's  blessing,  by  God's  aid. 
This  has  been  a  divine  purpose.  We  know  it 
must  be  so,  for  this  was  a  godly  life,  and  God 
watches  the  good  man's  way;  and  because  of 
the  use  which  was  made  of  these  distinctions, 
for  only  the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  author  of  our 
good  deeds.  It  was  therefore  a  divine  purpose, 
this  life  for  a  divine  end ;  it  was  a  city  set  upon  a 
•  hill,  that  by  its  shining  for  Him,  men  might  see 
the  good  light  and  glorify  the  Father  in  heaven. 
Thus  in  the  very  enumeration  of  our  losses  by 
the  death  of  God's  special  servants,  we  see  how 
He  answers  our  prayer  and  helps  us.  Help,  Lord, 


A  SERMON.  173 

for  the  godly  man  ceaseth.  We  are  taught  that 
God  was  in  all  their  lives,  and  in  all  that  they 
were  permitted  to  do.  Thus  we  have  a  strong 
additional  proof  that  He  is  in  His  church,  and 
doing  his  work.  One  of  the  wheels  in  the 
divine  machine  has  been  removed;  but  ever 
since  it  began  to  revolve  we  see  that  it  has  been 
governed  by  the  great  Master's  hand;  and  that 
is  just  as  present  now  in  this  last  motion  by 
which  the  instrument  has  been  taken  out  of  our 
sight,  as  in  all  before.  The  Ruler  is  revealed 
by  the  absence  of  His  servant.  We  may  be  in 
doubt  what  shall  next  happen.  Whether  the 
good  work  which  the  lost  servant  has  done  shall 
be  continued,  whether  another  shall  take  his 
place;  but  we  have  no  doubt  that  God  is  here, 
and  therein  we  rest  content. 

But  God  has  a  thousand  times  proven  to  us 
that  His  work  suffers  no  loss  by  the  death  of 
His  eminent  servants.  Moses  goes  and  He  sends 
Joshua.  Or,  far  better,  no  Joshua  comes,  but 
out  of  the  tribes  who,  as  they  feared,  had  lost 
their  all  when  Moses  was  withdrawn,  rise  up 
little  ones,  who  do  the  very  work  which  has 
been  abandoned ;  and  for  one  great  servant  taken 
away,  the  Lord  has  scores,  like  the  monster  of 


174  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

fable,  with  heads  still  growing  as  they  are  cut 
away.  Ofttimes  in  the  life  and  labors  of  one 
earnest  and  useful  man,  others  grow  sluggish, 
and  look  only  to  him.  The  Master  takes  away 
their  support  and  they  are  either  scourged  out  of 
the  vineyard,  because  manifestly  incapable;  or 
they  awake  to  strength  and  vigor  they  never 
knew  before,  and  watch  and  struggle,  and  ex- 
ceed the  hand  they  mourned  for. 

But  there  are  some  blessed  thoughts  connected 
with  the  death  of  God's  important  servants, 
which  make  their  dying  more  fragrant  for  us 
than  their  lives.  There  might  be  some  doubt 
as  to  the  functions  in  the  future  of  ordinary 
believing  men  who  die,  but  those  who  have 
always  labored  here  must  labor  there.  God  has 
never  ceased  to  make  use  of  them  in  this  world. 
He  will  not  drop  a  tool  of  his  own  choosing  in  the 
world  beyond.  Hence  we  know  the  blessed  truth, 
that  God  has  fields  of  service  beyond  the  pre- 
sent. There,  with  minds  unlimited,  with  fath- 
omless hearts,  with  years  that  do  not  cease,  the 
blessed  saints  of  God  shall  work  for  him  forever. 
Far,  far  down  the  countless  ages  stretches  the 
holy  harvest,  and  those  who  love  the  Saviour 
shall  gather  it  for  Him.  Oh !  it  is  a  priceless 


A  SERMON.  175 

promise  for  the  limbs  beginning  to  ache,  and 
the  life  growing  weary,  of  the  poor  toilers  in 
God's  acre  here.  There  the  work  is  to  begin 
anew  and  never  to  end;  to  begin  and  never  to 
fail;  to  go  on  and  never  to  weary;  and  Jesus 
always  by  to  smile,  and  encqurage,  and  reward. 

But  we  learn  beside,  that  He  will  not  suffer 
his  holy  saints  to  be  overburthened  and  broken 
down  utterly.  No!  he  takes  them  home  when 
they  are  weary,  no  matter  what  may  be  the  cost. 
O  how  long  our  foolish,  faithless  hearts  would 
hold  fast  to  those  we  need,  had  we  the  dispensa- 
tion of  their  fate.  Would  our  hearts  ever  let 
them  go  whom  we  love?  Could  we  ever  spare 
those  who  fight,  and  work,  and  give  for  us,  and 
never  hold  back  their  hands  or  lives  in  our  need  ? 
Ah!  but  their  God  is  tenderer  and  breaks  them 
from  our  clinging.  He  says  "Come,"  to  the 
burdened  man,  and  smooths  the  pillow  of  eter- 
nal rest  and  bids  him  lay  there.  He  says  "  Come," 
to  the  exhausted  watcher,  and  opens  to  him  the 
heavenly  heights  of  vigor  and  growth,  where  la- 
bor has  no  fatigue  and  work  is  delight.  All 
men  long  for  the  hour  of  repose,  here  or  here- 
after. Sick  of  the  world,  of  miserable  false 
men,  of  disappointments  and  losses,  we  yearn 


176  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

for  rest.  Is  there  any  sweeter  lesson  in  the  death 
of  God's  people  than  that  it  is  to  give  them  this? 
No  matter  who  loses,  no  matter  how  mourned 
over  or  needed,  the  Master  cares  for  his  own. 
He  has  spoken  it.  They  shall  have  their  REST  ! 
And  thus  we  get  a  sweet  ideal  of  Heaven.  One 
by  one,  He  has  taken  them  thither  whom  we 
knew.  Their  goodness,  their  zeal,  their  love, 
their  labor,  their  Christly  life — what  bright  par- 
ticular stars  they  were  here,  as  we  saw  them 
each  by  each!  But  there!  gathered  into  one — 
one  perfect  glorious  constellation — of  its  beauty, 
and  its  glory,  and  its  eternal  brightness  we  could 
frame  no  fancy  had  not  our  saintly  ones  died — 
died  as  we  knew  them.  But  he  is  in  it,  and  he, 
and  she;  Mary  and  Martha,  John  and  Peter! 
Lord,  it  must  be  a  goodly  land,  on  which  those 
who  were  so  holy  and  precious  here,  forever 
shine.  How  near  it  seems,  filled  with  those  so 
familiar  and  so  worthy  in  our  eyes  here.  The 
veil  is  lifted  up  and  the  door  opened  when  we 
remember  all  we  loved  and  wondered  at  in  the 
lives  of  God's  people  while  they  were  with  us, 
and  when  we  see  that  they  are  still  at  work  for  the 
same  Lord  on  high.  Heaven  and  earth  are  one. 
The  Church  above  and  the  Church  below  have 


A  SERMON.  177 

the  same  company  and  the  same  employments. 
But  we  have  not  done  <with  them,  God's  greater  ser- 
vants, when  they  have  passed  from  us;  nor  have 
they  ceased  to  bless  us,  for  though  they  be  dead, 
they  have  left  to  us  their  memory  and  their  work. 
This  last  lies  all  about  us  wherever  we  have  seen 
them  labor,  or  know  they  would  have  labored. 
And  there  is  this  truth  especially  for  us,  in  refer- 
ence to  their  work,  that  now  WE  can  do  more 
at  it  than  the  greatest  of  them  who  are  gone. 
Therefore  we,  in  all  our  humbleness  and  imper- 
fection, are  more  necessary  to  God  for  this  than 
they.  He  has  dispensed  with  their  labor.  He 
has  no  need  for  it.  It  is  of  no  use  to  him.  But 
us  he  does  need.  He  cannot  and  will  not  do 
without  us,  for  he  has  taken  them  away,  and  left 
us  standing  before  the  unfinished  labor.  Take 
heart,  then,  O  feeble  son,,  and  seize  the  father's 
plough!  Take  courage,  O  daughter,  and  carry 
on  his  ministering.  Labor,  brother,  it  is  the 
Lord's  call,  and  where  He  calls  he  gives  strength 
also. 

And  to  encourage  us  to  do  what  they  have 

left  undone,  we  have  their  memory.     It  is  their 

best  legacy.     Fortunes  take  wings  and  go ;  good 

works  die  like  all  mortal  things;  houses  decay 

23 


1/8  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

and  tumble  into  dust;  but  the  recollections  of  a 
life  of  industry,  earnestness,  brave  struggle,  un- 
tiring assiduity,  and  perfect  integrity,  do  not  die, 
they  become  part  of  our  common  lives.  Above 
all  do  a  conscientious,  loving,  faithful  Christian 
walk  and  conversation,  a  life  hid  with  Christ  in 
God,  dwell  with  us,  shape  our  consciences,  cheer 
and  encourage  us,  and  by  the  noble  striving,  and 
the  nobler  heavenly  end,  teach  us  to  live  also, 
and  to  labor  also,  looking  to  Jesus  and  making 
our  most  precious  monument  in  the  hearts  sanc- 
tified and  souls  saved  of  those  who,  like  this 
their  copy,  followed  on  to  know  the  Lord. 


OBITUARY  NOTICE 

OF 

MATTHIAS   W.   BALDWIN. 

BY  THE 

HON.  JOSEPH  R.  CHANDLER. 


MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


From  the  North  American  and  United  States  Gazette,  September  14,  1866. 


IF  it  was  a  good  and  a  wholesome  thought  in 
"Old  Mortality"  to  deepen  and  keep  legible 
the  inscriptions  upon  the  tombstones  of  those 
who  had  honored  their  country  or  their  religion, 
and  thus  to  keep  alive  their  memories,  they  are 
little  less  entitled  to  good  consideration  who 
first  chiselled  those  names,  and  placed  on  stone 
a  record  of  the  virtues  that  reflected  credit  on 
their  possessor,  and  produced  a  desire  to  imitate 
the  admitted  excellence.  Hence  benefits  are 
conferred  upon  society  when  mention  is  made 
of  the  excellence  of  those  whose  lives  have  il- 
lustrated the  virtues  that  belong  to  their  condi- 
tion, and  whose  deaths  have  done  honor  to  their 
profession. 

The  death  of  our  late  townsman,  Matthias 
W.  Baldwin,  has  been  mentioned  in  all  the  daily 
papers  of  our  city,  and  reference  has  been  made 


I  82  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

to  the  means  by  which  he  acquired  his  position 
in  business,  and  became  the  master  of  princely 
wealth.  The  lesson  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  life,  even 
in  that  regard,  must  be  profitable  to  the  young, 
who  are  considering  how  they  may  ascend ;  and 
a  minute  notice  of  the  particular  steps  which 
lead  on  to  fortune  would  be  instructive  to  all 
who  are  seeking  encouragement  in  their  efforts 
to  achieve  a  place.  Not  less,  nay  even  more  so, 
would  be  a  fair  statement  of  the  difficulties  en- 
countered in  the  selection  of  means  and  the 
judgment  evinced  in  the  abandonment  of  those 
that  did  not,  on  trial,  equal  expectation,  and  the 
still  greater  judgment  that  comprehended  in 
advance  the  movements  of  the  times  and  pro- 
vided a  supply  of  that  which  was  only  about  to 
be  needed. 

The  foresight  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  his  promptness 
to  seize  upon  the  suggestion  of  a  sound  judg- 
ment, and  his  patient  abiding  of  the  harvest  of  a 
liberal  sowing  and  careful  culture,  his  buoyant 
hopes  amid  difficulties  and  his  admirable  use  of 
success  are  instructive,  and  should  be  made  fa- 
miliar to  the  young.  They  are  a  part  of  the 
jewels  of  our  city,  as  they  are  illustrations  of  the 
character  of  our  people. 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  183 

But  the  writer  of  this  is  unskilled  in  those 
ennobling  acts  by  which  Mr.  Baldwin  achieved 
his  great  distinction  as  a  manufacturer.  He 
leaves,  therefore,  to  others,  who  comprehend 
the  difficulties  of  the  trade,  and  the  high  genius 
by  which  those  difficulties  were  surmounted,  to 
give  the  instructive  lesson  which  they  ought  to 
convey,  and  make  Matthias  W.  Baldwin  the  sub- 
ject of  a  volume  that  shall  be  to  the  young  me- 
chanic and  merchant  their  "Best  Companion." 

Fifty  years'  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Baldwin, 
and  frequent  association  with  him  in  the  dis- 
charge of  public  duties,  enable  the  writer  to 
speak  of  him  as  a  conscientious  man;  and  in  that 
ennobling  quality  lay  the  secret  of  his  great  suc- 
cess. What  he  undertook,  he  believed  to  be 
right.  What  he  said,  he  knew  or  believed  to 
be  true.  What  he  completed  bore  upon  it  no 
less  the  mark  of  a  master  mind  and  master  hand 
than  an  impress  of  strong  moral  integrity,  and  a 
well-regulated  conscience.  If  Mr.  Baldwin  was 
seen  in  his  earlier  days  connecting  new  business 
with  that  which  he  had  first  undertaken ;  or  if 
he  started  the  boiler  manufactory  by  passing 
from  one  pursuit  to  another,  time  served  to 
show  that  he  was  reaching  out  to  that  means  of 


184  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

distinction  for  which  his  genius  and  skill  had 
fitted  him,  and  making  himself  ready,  by  taking 
a  first  step,  to  take  those  which  his  progress 
should  suggest.  His  new  views  were  attained 
by  ascending,  and  his  foothold  was  made  secure 
on  each  attainment  by  the  correctness  of  his 
judgment. 

He  who  leads  public  enterprise  must  some- 
times wait  the  progress  of  the  many,  or  be  left 
alone.  He  who  provides  in  advance  for  others 
may  often  find  his  provision  neglected  and  his 
hopes  disappointed.  Mr.  Baldwin  understood 
that  from  experience;  but  when  he  became  a 
public  benefactor  by  anticipating  the  large  de- 
mand for  locomotive  engines,  his  enterprise  and 
judgment  were  rewarded  by  that  success  which 
is  the  artisan's  great  object,  and  finally  by  that 
wealth  which  is  the  almost  certain  result  of 
foresight  and  enterprise,  directed  by  sound  judg- 
ment and  a  pure  conscience. 

A  suggestive  theme  for  a  public  address  or  an 
essay  might  be  found  in  the  business  abilities, 
character,  and  success  of  Mr.  Baldwin ;  and 
some  one  who  would  make  the  lesson  attractive 
will  probably  present  it  to  the  young,  as  an  en- 
couragement to  undertake  with  prudence  great 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  185 

matters,  and  pursue  with  earnestness  whatever 
their  hands  find  to  do,  and  not  to  be  deterred 
by  small  obstacles,  and  especially  not  to  cease 
from  enterprise  because  a  single  path  to  success 
has  been  closed.  There  is  a  power  in  genius 
that  moulds  events  to  its  own  purposes,  or  ac- 
commodates itself  to  new  circumstances.  It  is 
certainly  good  for  any  man  who  has  to  achieve 
his  own  pecuniary  independence,  that  his  taste 
and  education  should  be  moulded  to  the  require- 
ments of  a  pursuit  upon  which  he  is  to  enter. 
But  it  is  better  that  his  powers  of  mind  should 
be  so  directed  that  he  may  seize  upon  new  sug- 
gestions, and  profit  by  a  change  which  chance 
or  progress  may  make.  The  discoveries  of  sci- 
ence, the  inventions  of  genius,  and  the  advance- 
ment of  the  arts,  are  constantly  presenting  new 
objects  for  enterprise,  upon  which  men  of  cha- 
racter in  their  pursuits  may  seize,  and  make  them 
subservient  to  immense  success.  Mr.  Baldwin 
comprehended  that,  and  he  profited  by  the 
changes  which  railroads  produce,  and  rose  to 
distinction  upon  a  business  that  had  no  existence 
when  he  commenced  business  life. 

Mr.  Baldwin  then  was  prominent  in  his  occu- 
pation.    He  understood  the  art  which  he  prac- 
24 


I  86  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

tised,  and  he  knew  how  to  make  science  subser- 
vient to  that  art,  and  so  he  became  great  as  a 
business  man.  But  the  distinction  and  wealth 
which  Mr.  Baldwin  acquired  were  less  to  him 
than  that  serenity  of  temper  by  which  the  hours 
of  business  or  of  social  enjoyment  were  illumin- 
ated; and  the  wealth  which  he  acquired  seemed 
chiefly  valuable  to  him  as  a  means  of  gratifying 
a  refined  taste,  and  promoting  objects  worthy 
the  consideration  of  an  immortal  mind.  The 
writer  of  this  article  had  the  pleasure  of  observ- 
ing the  progress  of  Mr.  Baldwin  for  fifty  years, 
of  sharing  with  him  public  responsibilities;  and 
no  act,  even  in  his  most  straitened  day,  is  recalled 
on  which  Mr.  Baldwin  was  less  a  true  and  up- 
right man  than  he  was  when  no  temptations  but 
wealth  invited  him  to  swerve.  He  was  in  prin- 
ciple an  honest  man.  There  was  no  necessity 
for  thought,  for  calculation,  to  make  him  do 
right — right  with  him  was  almost  an  instinct,  so 
deeply  seated  and  so  constantly  active  was  such 
a  principle.  He  was  a  good  man. 

To  the  young,  Mr.  Baldwin  seemed  to  die  in 
a  good  old  age;  to  his  contemporaries  and  his 
seniors,  he  seemed  to  have  been  called  away  in 
the  midst  of  that  soundness  of  judgment  which 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  187 

great  experience  matures,  and  in  the  fulness  of 
that  intellect  which  was  so  useful  to  others. 

Mr.  Baldwin's  strong  sense  of  right  made  him 
tenacious  of  the  principles  which  he  had  adopt- 
ed, and  upon  which  his  public  and  private  life 
was  moulded.  He  was  firm  in  his  adherence  to 
them,  and,  at  proper  seasons,  he  was  earnest  in 
their  defence,  though  rather  conspicuous  in  their 
illustration.  But  he  never  wounded  the  sensi- 
bilities of  others  by  an  untimely  presentation  of 
his  own  views,  nor  outraged  the  proprieties  of 
social  life  by  indelicate  attacks  upon  the  opposing 
opinions  of  associates.  Stern  in  the  practice  of 
those  virtues  which  belong  to  the  religion  which 
he  professed,  he  was  yet  most  lenient  to  the  er- 
rors which  marred  the  character  of  others.  He 
cautioned  the  erring  with  delicacy,  and  he  re- 
buked the  offender  with  gentleness.  For  lesser 
faults  he  had  the  forbearance  of  one  who  under- 
stood the  weakness  of  human  nature,  and  for 
graver  offences  he  had  the  censure  that  startles 
but  mends.  To  the  young  man  who  had  de- 
parted slightly  from  the  way,  he  extended  a 
hand  that  led  to  the  right ;  for  the  older  he  had 
a  pardon  and  a  blessing  that  bade  him  go  and 
sin  no  more. 


I  88  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

No  one  can  tell  into  how  many  channels  the 
good  influences  of  Mr.  Baldwin  extended.  His 
liberal  hand  was  open  to  assist  the  unfortunate, 
and  to  direct,  by  example,  the  character  of  others. 
His  own  life  and  its  results  were  to  the  younger 
an  encouragement  to  virtuous  enterprise,  while 
his  own  vast  undertakings  gave  active  and  pro- 
fitable employment  to  hundreds  who  lived  in  the 
influence  of  his  good  example,  and  grew  better 
in  an  atmosphere  of  the  purest  morals  that  Chris- 
tianity has  softened  and  sanctified. 

The  ruling  motive  of  Mr.  Baldwin's  action 
was  right,  not  merely  the  abstract  sense  of  right 
that  permits  no  direct  wrong  to  others,  but  that 
higher,  purer  sense,  that  made  him  solicitous 
that  all  the  enjoyment  which  he  had  of  his  own 
right  should  be  multiplied  by  and  ministered  to 
the  good  of  others.  Hence,  it  was  a  rule  of  life 
with  him  to  multiply  the  rights  of  others,  that 
he  might  increase  their  usefulness  and  their  en- 
joyment. 

All  who  knew  Mr.  Baldwin  knew  him  to  be 
a  zealous  Christian.  The  best  qualities  of  reli- 
gion were  illustrated  by  his  unostentatious  chari- 
ties, his  large  philanthropy,  his  love  for  man. 
All  who  knew  Mr.  Baldwin  could  not  designate 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  189 

the  denomination  of  Christians  with  which  he 
had  direct  and  intimate  fellowship;  but  a  man 
of  such  fixed  principles  would  scarcely  be  with- 
out an  explicit  creed,  and  with  an  attachment  so 
strong  and  so  particular  as  to  make  him  seek  to 
extend  the  benefits  of  his  general  views  by  means 
of  the  channels  which  he  held  to  be  most  ap- 
propriate. No  man  that  approached  Mr.  Bald- 
win with  requests  for  means  to  promote  any 
good  object  ever  went  away  empty;  but  who 
can  tell  how  full-handed  returned  those  who 
intimated  to  him  the  necessities  of  some  reli- 
gious enterprise  that  was  directly  on  the  way 
which  he  specially  approved.  The  largest  of 
these  offerings  are  known.  The  liberal  man 
shuts  his  eyes  to  the  evidence  of  his  liberality, 
but  the  beneficiary  suffers  an  open  mouth  to 
speak  out  of  the  abundance  of  a  grateful  heart. 

The  Master  and  Teacher  of  all  benevolence 
did  not  rebuke  the  presentation  of  a  motive  for 
prayer  for  the  restoration  of  a  sick  man,  "That 
he  hath  builded  us  a  synagogue."  He  might 
have  heard  the  reason  urged  with  double  force 
in  behalf  of  one  whose  death  is  now  mourned, 
and  whose  life  may  have  been  protracted  by  the 
exercise  of  those  graces  which  strengthen  where 


190  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

they  influence  and  bless  the  objects  upon  which 
they  are  employed. 

No  man  in  this  city,  perhaps,  has  ever  done 
more  for  the  religious  denomination  of  which 
he  was  a  member  than  was  necessarily  known 
to  be  done  by  Mr.  Baldwin.  The  thousand 
percolating  drops  of  incidental  aid,  the  nume- 
rous rills  of  charity  that  flowed  from  his  ample 
means  are  to  be  judged  of  only  by  the  blessings 
which  they  produced,  the  benefit  of  the  indi- 
vidual or  the  association  alone  "betraying  the 
secret  of  their  silent  course."  But  there  are 
others,  where  princely  munificence,  moved  by  a 
religious  discrimination,  meet  the  eye  and  com- 
mand the  respect  of  those  who  know  how  dou- 
bly beneficial  is  that  aid  which  comes  at  a  mo- 
ment of  need.  The  record  of  such  liberality  is 
made  where  it  will  be  ineffaceable.  The  cha- 
racter and  deeds  of  the  man  capable  of  such 
acts  will  be  held  in  "sweet  remembrance." 

Mr.  Baldwin,  though  always  alive  to  the  inte- 
rests of  the  country,  found  little  time  for  what 
is  called  public  positions.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Convention  that  formed  the  present  Con- 
stitution of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania;  and  his 
influence  was  given  to  the  conservative  side  of 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  191 

measures  discussed.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  and  had  been  for  many  years  past,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Inspectors  of  the  Philadel- 
phia County  Prison,  in  which  situation  his  busi- 
ness habits,  and  his  sense  of  justice,  and  his  love 
of  mercy,  made  him  eminently  useful,  while  the 
urbanity  of  his  manners  secured  for  him  the 
affectionate  esteem  of  his  colleagues. 

No  one  could  attempt  an  analysis  of  the  cha- 
racter of  Mr.  Baldwin  without  being  struck  with 
its  wonderful,  its  beautiful  simplicity,  and  the 
adaptation  of  his  manner  to  all  with  whom  he 
came  into  relation.  The  humblest  artisan  found 
in  him  a  sympathizing  friend,  and  the  noblest 
and  boldest  projector  felt  instructed  by  his  ob- 
servation. The  aged  gathered  encouragement 
by  his  presentation  of  the  benefits  of  his  expe- 
rience, and  children  grew  happy  in  his  benignant 
smiles.  He  seemed  to  have  a  force  of  character 
that  took  him  through  all  enterprises,  and  a 
gentleness  of  disposition  that  gave  sunshine  to 
all  results.  The  extended  factory  and  the  pon- 
derous machinery  seemed  to  be  trifling  instru- 
ments in  his  hands  to  effect  great  objects;  while 
home,  the  fireside,  with  its  splendid  collection 
of  the  fine  arts,  and  the  endearing  smile  of 


192  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

affection  that  no  art  could  make  or  imitate,  was 
the  sanctuary  of  the  domestic  affections. 

It  is  for  others  to  do  more  ample  justice  to 
the  character  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  and  tempt  the 
young  aspirant  for  distinction,  by  showing  how 
truth,  conscientiousness,  and  persevering  industry 
secure  success,  and  how  the  best  instincts  of  the 
human  heart  and  the  purest  principles  of  religion 
are  compatible  with  the  most  devoted  attention 
to  the  business  of  life;  how,  indeed,  they  influ- 
ence the  plans  and  direct  the  execution  of  the 
schemes  of  the  man  of  enlarged  enterprise,  and 
finally,  how  they  gain  predominance  and  become 
the  leading  motive  where  they  had  only  been 
the  influencing  power. 

Some  one  else  will  find  time  to  show  how 
much  honor  the  creative  and  completing  facul- 
ties of  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Baldwin  reflect  on  his 
whole  country;  how  the  fulfilment  of  his  great 
undertakings  is  made  a  blessing  to  others,  who 
in  a  hundred  ways  are  called  on  to  perform  part 
of  the  immense  labor  for  which  his  inventive 
power  created  a  demand ;  and  how  the  city  in 
which  he  dwelt  feels  that  the  fame,  the  charac- 
ter, and  the  success  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin  are 
inseparable  and  valuable  portions  of  her  civic 


OBITUARY  NOTICE.  193 

honors.  Let  it  be  the  object  of  this  article  to 
show  that  in  Philadelphia  such  a  man  as  Mat- 
thias W.  Baldwin  could  not  live  without  the 
distinction  which  talent,  enterprise,  success,  and 
purity  of  life  ought  to  secure,  and  such  a  man 
could  not  die  without  the  regret  that  so  much 
worth  should  pass  away,  nor  without  gratitude 
to  God  that  the  highest  honors  which  our  city 
has  to  bestow  are  reserved  for  the  man  who  is 
faithful  to  his  vocation,  and  in  all  his  relations 
an  example  of  noble,  generous  enterprises  and 
of  gentle,  Christian  manners. 


MEMORIAL 

OF 

MATTHIAS   W.    BALDWIN, 

BY 

FRANKLIN   PEALE. 


MEMORIAL. 


Read  before  the  American  Philosophical  Society  of  Philadelphia,  at  a  meeting  held 
on  the  Seventh  day  of  December,  A.  D.  1866. 


THE  life  of  a  man,  like  that  of  the  subject  of 
this  notice,  furnishes  a  vast  amount  of  matter, 
and  exemplifies  the  results  of  character,  habits, 
and  principles  that  are  most  useful  in  their  influ- 
ences on  all  classes  of  society,  and  in  all  the 
relations  of  life;  but  the  usages  of  this  Society 
do  not  authorize  details,  however  desirable  upon 
other  accounts,  or  however  interesting  to  the 
immediate  relatives  of  the  departed;  a  just  re- 
cord of  the  life  .and  character  of  the  deceased  is 
all  that  is  aimed  at  in  this  Memorial. 

On  the  tenth  day  of  December,  1795,  in 
Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  Matthias  William 
Baldwin  was  born.  Much  the  largest  propor- 
tion of  his  life  was  passed  in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  the  vicinity  of  which,  at  his  country 
seat,  Wissinoming,  he  died,  on  the  evening  of 


198  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

September  yth,  1866,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of 
his  age. 

He  was  the  son  of  William  Baldwin,  and  an 
exemplary  mother,  whose  influence  on  his  future 
life  was  all  that  could  be  desired,  in  moral  and 
religious  example  and  precept. 

He  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  the  first  in  early 
childhood,  but  the  judicious  training  and  indus- 
trious energy  of  the  last  so  far  supplied  the  loss 
that  no  serious  privation  followed  in  the  rearing 
of  a  family  of  five  children,  two  of  whom  sur- 
vive at  this  time. 

His  father  was  in  life  successful  in  a  mechan- 
ical profession,  and  realized  property,  which  was 
subsequently  lost,  thus  calling  forth  the  energy 
of  his  mother,  as  previously  noticed ;  it  is  there- 
fore obvious  how  the  mechanical  tendencies  of 
the  subject  of  this  notice  had  their  origin;  and 
accordingly  the  occupations  and  amusements  of 
the  boyhood  of  Matthias  were  mechanical,  in 
which  he  indulged  as  far  as  time  and  limited 
means  permitted. 

His  education  under  such  circumstances  was 
necessarily  confined  to  the  ordinary  acquirements 
of  elementary  instruction,  which  after-studies 
and  associations  much  improved  and  enlarged. 


MEMORIAL.  199 

The  profession  chosen  for  him,  to  which  he 
was  apprenticed,  was  that  of  jeweller,  in  the 
obligations  of  which  he  was  faithfully  occupied 
during  the  five  years  of  his  minority,  in  Frank- 
ford,  Pennsylvania. 

After  this  he  was  employed  in  the  establish- 
ment of  Fletcher  and  Gardener,  in  this  city,  ex- 
tensive manufacturers  and  dealers  in  jewelry  and 
plate.  The  first  named  being  subsequently  one 
of  the  officers  of  the  Franklin  Institute,  in  which 
Institution  Mr.  Baldwin  exercised  an  active  and 
influential  part,  as  will  be  noticed  hereafter. 

Mr.  Baldwin  commenced  business  on  his  own 
account  in  1819,  in  the  manufacture  of  jewelry, 
and  appears  to  have  been  successful  for  a  limited 
time  only,  as  he  subsequently  changed  his  busi- 
ness to  the  manufacture  of  bookbinders'  tools, 
calico-printers'  rolls,  &c.,  in  which  he  became 
associated  with  Mr.  David  Mason.  In  this  busi- 
ness the  enlarged  views  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  his 
careful  manipulation  were  eminently  important, 
and  the  results  such  as  usually  accompany  skilled, 
practical  ability.  Thus  associated,  a  .manufac- 
tory was  established,  beginning  in  the  year  1825, 
that  rendered  the  country  independent  of  foreign 
supply.  It  was  situated  in  a  small  street,  run- 


200          LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

ning  north  from  Walnut  Street,  above  Fourth 
Street,  in  this  city.  It  was  in  this  place  that  the 
author  of  this  memoir  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Mr.  Baldwin,  which  afterwards  ripened  into  an 
intimacy  that  continued  in  uninterrupted  har- 
mony to  the  end  of  his  life. 

The  success  of  the  firm  in  the  departments 
just  noticed,  and  the  increase  of  business  arising 
from  it,  induced  a  change  of  locality  to  a  larger 
space,  and  increased  power ;  it  was  effected  by 
removal  to  Minor  Street  near  Sixth,  in  the  latter 
part  of  1827,  or  beginning  of  1828,  and  it  was 
here  that  the  dawn  of  his  prosperity  had  its  rise, 
to  shine  forth  a  bright  and  glorious  noon  of 
utility  and  success. 

It  was  in  this  workshop  that  Mr.  Baldwin 
made  the  designs  for,  and  built  his  first  steam- 
engine,  intended  to  supply  the  motive  power 
demanded  by  his  enlarged  business.  It  was  of 
novel  construction,  in  several  respects,  and  was 
finished  to  an  extent  entirely  unexampled  in  that 
day.  Its  vertical  cylinder,  so  placed  for  economy 
of  space;  its  forked  cross-head  and  pitman, 
guides  at  the  sides  of  the  cylinder,  were  novel- 
ties, in  the  disposition  and  form  of  parts,  and  its 
bevel  wheels,  which  gave  motion  to  the  gover- 


MEMORIAL.  201 

nor,  were  without  teeth,  doing  their  duty  by 
friction  alone,  being  noiseless,  like  the  beautiful 
engine  whose  motion  that  governor  controlled. 

This  little  engine  of  five-horse  power  was  the 
object  of  much  attention  among  machinists,  and 
excited  general  admiration  by  its  quiet,  though 
efficient  motion,  and  the  fine  finish  of  all  its 
parts.  It  is  at  this  hour  an  efficient  motive 
power  in  the  great  establishment  of  M.  W. 
Baldwin  &  Co.,  with  very  slight  changes  in  its 
parts,  a  durable  evidence  of  the  sound  mecha- 
nical judgment  of  him  who  designed  and  exe- 
cuted it. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  attention  of 
the  world  was  concentrated  on  the  importance 
of  railroads  for  transportation,  and  the  means  of 
moving  upon  them.  The  history  of  the  loco- 
motive is  well  known,  and  need  not  be  recapitu- 
lated ;  but  the  experience  in  this  country  was  very 
limited,  although  the  public  mind  and  curiosity 
were  ardently  drawn  towards  all  that  had  been 
done,  or  was  doing  in  relation  thereto.  It  was 
in  consequence  of  the  feeling  on  this  important 
matter  that  Mr.  Baldwin  was  requested  by  the 
author  of  this  memoir  to  make  for  the  Philadel- 
phia Museum — of  which  he  was  manager — a 
26 


202          LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

model  locomotive.  After  the  examination  of 
all  the  resources  then  available  in  description, 
and  sketches  of  the  engines  which  had  com- 
peted for  the  premium  on  the  Liverpool  and 
Manchester  Railroad,  a  plan  was  adopted,  and 
the  model  engine  commenced  in  1830,  and  after 
a  few  experiments  and  modifications,  finished  in 
1831,  and  on  the  25th  of  April  of  that  year  was 
put  in  operation  on  a  track  laid  in  the  rooms  of 
the  Museum,  in  the  Arcade,  making  the  circuit  of 
the  whole  suite,  and  drawing  two  miniature  cars, 
containing  seats  for  four  passengers  (which  were 
sometimes  loaded  double),  in  a  manner  highly 
gratifying  to  the  public,  who  attended  in  crowds 
to  witness — for  the  first  time  in  this  city  and 
State — the  effect  of  steam  in  railroad  transporta- 
tion. 

It  may  be  proper  to  observe  that  the  efficiency 
of  this  miniature  engine,  and  its  satisfactory 
performance,  were  mainly  due  to  the  discharge 
of  the  exhaust,  or  waste  steam,  into  the  stack,  or 
chimney — a  principle  of  vital  importance  in  all 
engines,  rendering  a  blowing  apparatus  unneces- 
sary, and  supplying  the  fuel  with  air  requisite  for 
combustion,  without  the  sacrifice  of  power  for 
that  object,  a  principle  then  new,  or  little  known 


MEMORIAL.  203 

in  this  connection.  To  whom  the  invention  (if 
it  can  be  so  called)  is  due,  who  at  this  time  can 
tell?  The  fuel  used  in  the  small  fire  space  of 
the  boiler  of  this  model  was  pine-knot  coal,  al- 
though anthracite  was  partially  successful  in  its 
application,  the  difficulty  in  the  use  of  any  fuel 
being  the  diminutive  space  above  alluded  to. 

It  may  be  permitted  also,  in  this  connection, 
to  observe  that  the  first  published  observations 
upon  the  foaming  of  water  in  boilers,  were 
made  in  the  use  of  this  model.  They  may  be 
found  in  one  of  the  newspapers  of  the  day. 

The  attention  of  machinists  was  drawn  to  the 
subject  of  locomotion  with  considerable  energy 
about  this  time.  It  was  one  of  the  great  move- 
ments of  the  epoch;  it  demanded  and  received 
the  attention  the  necessities  of  commerce  and 
general  intercourse  required.  Mr.  Baldwin,  as 
it  may  be  naturally  inferred,  shared  in  the  gene- 
ral excitement,  and  was  therefore  prepared  to 
undertake  the  task,  when  an  order  came  in  1832 
from  the  Philadelphia  and  Germantown  Rail- 
road Company  for  the  construction  of  a  loco- 
motive for  that  Company's  road. 

The  only  examples  or  information  previous  to 
this  time  of  the  construction  of  the  now  per- 


204  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

fected  locomotive  engine,  were  the  crude  efforts 
of  the  previous  years,  and  the  various  published 
and  imperfect  accounts  and  illustrations  in  the 
journals  of  the  day. 

Mr.  Baldwin  and  the  writer  inspected  the  de- 
tached parts  of  a  locomotive  imported  by  the 
Camden  and  Amboy  Railroad  Company,  in  a 
shed  on  their  road  near  Bordentown  (at  least 
such  is  the  recollection  of  the  place),  and  under 
some  difficulty  succeeded  in  making  such  obser- 
vations and  a  few  measurements  as  were  thought 
would  be  of  service.  It  was  with  these  slender 
means  of  observation,  and  the  limited  experience 
of  the  preceding  model,  that  the  task  was  un- 
dertaken, and  the  execution  of  the  order  com- 
menced. It  is  but  justice  to  add  that  it  was 
accompanied  by  restrictions  as  to  weight  that 
are  now  at  variance  with  all  the  principles  that 
are  desired,  in  fact,  govern,  the  use  of  motive 
power  on  railroads. 

The  building  of  this  engine  was  carried  on 
under  the  difficulties  of  few  and  insufficient 
tools  and  space,  and  completed  in  about  six 
months.  Begun  in  Minor  Street,  it  was  finished, 
in  1832,  in  the  new  and  larger  space  in  Lodge 
Alley,  to  which  the  shop  had  been  removed, 


MEMORIAL.  205 

and  was  placed  upon  the  road  on  the  23d  of 
November  in  that  year. 

The  experiments  which  were  immediately 
made  with  the  "Ironsides,"  as  this  engine  was 
called,  in  speed  and  management  were  eminently 
successful.  The  writer  and  other  friends,  scien- 
tific and  mechanic,  made  short  excursions  on 
the  road,  realizing  the  sensations  that  only  occur 
once  in  a  generation,  under  the  novel  circum- 
stances afforded  by,  as  in  this  case,  the  flight 
through  the  air  at  the  rate  of  fifty  or  sixty  miles 
an  hour. 

Difficulties  arose  in  the  settlement  of  his  ac- 
count with  the  officers  of  the  Company,  who 
appear  to  have  expected  that  this  engine  would 
do  what  their  own  restrictions  had  rendered 
impossible ;  and  there  were  other  difficulties 
that  had  their  origin  in  the  grading  and  con- 
struction of  the  road  itself. 

These  facts  are  amusingly  illustrated  by  one  of 
the  advertisements  of  the  Company,  which  was 
in  the  following  words  : — 

"  NOTICE. — The  engine  (built  by  Mr.  Bald- 
win) with  a  train  of  cars,  will  run  daily  (com- 
mencing this  day),  when  the  weather  is  fair,  as 
follows,"  &c.  ..."  When  the  weather  is  not  fair, 
the  horses  will  draw  the  cars  the  four  trips." 


206  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

No  one  need  be  told  now  that  when  the  rails 
are  wet  there  is  less  adhesion  than  at  other  times, 
and  as  the  grades  were  steep,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  one  of  the  lightest  engines  ever  built,  was 
unable  to  draw  all  the  cars,  and  all  the  crowd 
that  panted  for  a  trip  by  steam.  The  parties 
who  indulged  such  unreasonable  desires  could 
not  have  exercised  common  reason  in  expecting 
from  the  motive  power  more  than  was  witnessed 
by  the  writer,  the  slipping  of  the  wheels  under 
a  full  head  of  steam. 

The  sand-box,  now  an  indispensable  adjunct 
of  every  locomotive,  was  then  unknown ;  had  it 
been,  it  would  most  likely  have  supplied  the 
means  of  adhesion,  something  better  than  the 
horses'  feet,  advertised  to  guarantee  the  trip. 

This  little  engine  was  an  undoubted  success, 
and  subsequently,  when  fairly  and  skilfully  run 
on  the  road,  properly  adjusted  and  secured,  gave 
entire  satisfaction  to  the  public,  and  all  parties 
concerned. 

The  removal  to  enlarged  premises  in  Lodge 
Alley,  gave  facilities  that  soon  told  upon  his 
reputation,  and  augmented  his  business;  in  this 
place  his  second  engine  was  made,  and  successive 
numbers  undertaken.  Further  increase  of  busi- 


MEMORIAL.  207 

ness  rendered  another  removal  necessary ;  in 
1835,  the  property  at  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
Hamilton  Streets  was  purchased,  and  here  the 
regular  manufacture  of  Locomotives,  on  an  en- 
larged scale,  was  established,  and  became  the 
principal  occupation,  although  it  did  not  exclude 
other  business,  as  evidenced  by  the  construction 
of  the  engine  for  the  City  Ice  Boat,  whose 
efficient  services  in  clearing  the  channel  of  the 
Delaware,  as  well  as  her  employment  by  Go- 
vernment during  the  late  rebellion,  are  well 
known  to  the  whole  community. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  enumerate  the  various 
improvements  made  by  Mr.  Baldwin,  in  the 
parts,  construction,  and  manufacture  of  Loco- 
motives ;  it  would  be  a  lengthy  enumeration. 
It  is  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  results  are  seen  on 
all  the  railroads  of  the  country,  in  the  presence 
of  engines  adapted  to  all  the  purposes  of  draught 
and  speed.  But  a  passing  remark,  reverting  to 
past  history,  upon  the  fact  of  ascending  the 
inclined  plane  at  Belmont,  and  manoeuvring 
upon  it,  was  one  of  the  feats  of  that  early  date, 
exciting  surprise  in  the  minds  of  all,  whether 
natural  philosopher,  mechanician,  or  ordinary 
observer.  Since  that  day,  the  mountain  heights 


208  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

of  our  coal  fields,  even  the  Alleghany  ridge 
itself,  seem  to  offer  scarcely  any  impediment, 
either  to  the  ponderous  engine,  or  its  cumbrous 
train  of  freight.  Much  of  this  success  in  trans- 
portation is  due  to  the  form  and  adaptation  of 
the  best  freight  engines,  which  have  had  their 
origin  in  the  magnificent  establishment  of  M. 
W.  Baldwin  &  Co.,  in  this  city. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  career  thus 
imperfectly  sketched,  was  an  uninterrupted 
course  of  prosperity;  on  the  contrary,  it  was 
attended  by  financial  and  other  embarrassments, 
that  at  times  were  nearly  fatal  in  their  effects ; 
but  it  is  equally  true  that  Mr.  Baldwin's  confi- 
dence in  his  own  ability,  and  the  line  that  he 
was  pursuing,  never  failed,  and  it  is  well  known 
that  his  integrity,  appreciated  and  regarded  as  it 
was,  kept  and  sustained  him  through  all  the 
convulsions  of  those  days,  and  ultimately  crowned 
his  success  with  the  halo  of  honor,  under  which 
he  met  and  extinguished  every  debt,  both  prin- 
cipal and  interest. 

It  might  reasonably  be  supposed,  that  with 
such  a  weight  of  responsibilities,  Mr.  Baldwin 
was  fully  occupied  with  the  conduct  of  his  Fac- 
tory; he  found  time,  nevertheless,  to  take  a  full 


MEMORIAL.  209 

share  of  the  duties  of  a  member  and  officer  of 
the  Franklin  Institute  of  this  State.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  members,  participating  in 
the  proceedings  of  March  the  aoth,  1824;  was 
placed  on  the  Committee  of  Science  and  Arts 
in  1834;  elected  Vice-President  in  1855,  and  so 
remaining  until  1863. 

In  the  examination  of  machines  and  inventions 
presented  to  the  judgment  of  the  Institute,  he 
was  always  distinguished  for  the  sound  views  he 
took  of  principles,  and  keen  insight  of  the  merit 
of  the  article  presented,  and  candid  and  inde- 
pendent in  his  opinions  and  statements  in  rela- 
tion thereto. 

He  had  the  honor  of  election  to  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  on  the  1 8th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1833,  and  was  often  present  at  its  meetings, 
though  rarely  taking  an  active  part  in  its  pro- 
ceedings. 

The  Horticultural  Society  of  this  city  was  a 
favorite  institution ;  he  contributed  largely  to  the 
attractiveness  of  the  meetings,  by  a  liberal  dis- 
play of  the  beauties  of  his  conservatory,  and 
presided  over  its  affairs  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  was  elected  a  member  March  i8th,  1851, 
and  was  elevated  to  the  Presidency,  January 
27 


210  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

1 9th,  1858,  in  which  office  he  continued  until 
1863. 

The  resolutions  which  were  adopted  by  the 
members,  on  the  announcement  of  his  decease, 
were  of  the  most  grateful,  appreciative,  and  re- 
gretful character. 

A  peculiar  fondness  for  foliage  in  color  and 
form  was  one  of  his  characteristic  traits,  at  least 
such  a  deduction  may  justly  be  drawn,  from  the 
number  and  variety  of  the  strange  though  beau- 
tiful leaves  of  plants  which  his  conservatories 
contained. 

Mr.  Baldwin  was  also  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Directors  of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of 
the  Fine  Arts.  Elected  to  that  body  in  the  year 
1852.  The  appreciation  of  his  associates  in  the 
Direction  of  that  Institution  is  demonstrated 
by  the  resolutions  adopted  by  them  on  the  an- 
nouncement of  his  separation  from  their  associa- 
tion. 

Mr.  Baldwin  became  a  member  of  the  Mu- 
sical Fund  Society,  founded  for  the  support  of 
decayed  musicians  and  the  promotion  of  the  art, 
although  the  increase  of  population,  and  the 
consequent  resources  of  the  musical  portion  of 
the  community  have  long  since  rendered  the 


MEMORIAL.  211 

second  object  of  the  corporation  (in  which  it 
had  been  eminently  successful)  no  longer  a 
necessity;  yet  Mr.  Baldwin,  while  health  per- 
mitted, never  failed  to  give  his  presence  and 
countenance  to  the  duties  of  the  first  object, 
and  the  obligations  of  the  committees  on  which 
he  was  placed.  He  became  an  amateur  mem- 
ber April  a/th,  1847,  and  a  life  member  October 
6th,  1852,  after  being  elected  one  of  the  Man- 
agers of  the  Fund  at  its  annual  meeting,  May 
4th,  1852. 

His  services  in  this  charity  may  be  summed 
up  thus:  on  the  Committee  of  the  Fund,  one 
year;  on  the  Committee  of  Relief,  four  years; 
on  the  Committee  of  Admission,  ten  years,  or  to 
the  end  of  his  days. 

The  share  which  Mr.  Baldwin  exercised  in 
the  political  movements  of  the  day,  though 
limited  in  extent,  were  of  much  importance ; 
he  fulfilled  the  duties  which  they  imposed  upon 
him  with  his  usual  zeal  and  independence.  As 
a  member  of  the  Convention  to  amend  the 
Constitution  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  in 
1837,  he  took,  in  that  body,  a  decided  stand  on 
points  that  have  become  vital  principles  in  the 


212  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

general  progress  or  advance  of  the  human  race, 
and  always  on  the  side  of  liberality  and  justice. 

Elected  a  member  of  the  State  legislature  in 
1853,  he  was  distinguished,  amid  the  mazes  of 
diplomacy,  during  his  term  of  service,  in  the 
winter  of  1854,  for  his  straightforward  and  con- 
sistent course  in  that  line  of  conscientiousness 
which  had  marked  his  life. 

As  an  Inspector  of  the  County  Prison,  Mr. 
Baldwin  may  be  cited  as  an  example  of  perse- 
vering benevolence  in  an  ungrateful  task,  marked 
by  all  the  disagreeable  and  revolting  feelings 
which  accompany  contact  with  the  vile,  the 
miserable,  and  the  degraded.  In  this  office  his 
sense  of  justice,  and  hatred  of  intemperance  and 
vice  in  all  its  motley  garb,  must  have  been  sorely 
tried;  but  mercy  and  benevolence  seem  to  have 
been  the  prevailing  sentiments  which  governed 
him  in  the  treatment  of  the  unfortunate  and 
vicious  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  in  his 
inspection  tours  of  duty. 

It  will  be  observed  in  the  record  of  his  career, 
as  thus  traced,  that  Mr.  Baldwin  was  remarkable 
for  the  number  and  variety  of  the  occupations 
and  pursuits  to  which  he  devoted  his  working 
and  his  leisure  hours;  to  do  full  justice  to  his 


MEMORIAL.  213 

character  would  require  much  more  extended 
remarks  (pleasant  labor  it  is  true),  but  not  re- 
quired by  the  objects  of  this  notice. 

His  principal  characteristic  was  the  fervent 
religious  bias  of  his  mind;  from  early  life  it 
appears  to  have  impressed  him  with  its  vital 
importance,  and  to  have  influenced  him,  more 
or  less,  in  all  the  transactions  of  his  career  :  it 
developed  itself  most  forcibly  in  the  aid  which 
he  gave  to  the  formation  of  religious  associa- 
tions, and  the  building  and  support  of  churches, 
for  that  particular  denomination  to  which  he 
was  attached ;  becoming  more  marked  as  he 
advanced  in  age,  and  as  his  means  accumulated; 
so  that  his  own  revenue,  great  as  it  had  become 
within  the  last  few  years  of  his  business  career, 
appears  to  have  been  almost  absorbed  in  this 
direction. 

That  he  was  fond  of  everything  beautiful  in 
nature,  is  demonstrated  by  the  flowers,  the  trees, 
and  plants  of  his  favorite  residence  at  Wissino- 
ming,  which  he  had  embellished  to  the  utmost, 
in  the  fruits  of  the  tropics,  the  vines  and  escu- 
lents of  the  most  liberal  horticulture,  and  all 
that  constitute  the  surroundings  of  a  refined  life 
in  the  country.  But  his  fondness  was  not  con- 


214  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

fined  to  the  vegetable  kingdom  alone ;  it  led  to 
the  collection  and  guardianship  of  a  variety  of 
animals.  The  deer  and  other  ruminants  had 
their  comfortable  parks ;  the  smaller  animals 
their  appropriate  shelter;  and  every  variety  of 
bird,  its  home  and  sustenance;  and  some,  too, 
were  the  pets  of  his  lap,  and  seemed  both  the 
amusement  and  indulgence  of  a  caressing  habit 
of  life. 

His  fondness  for  the  fine  arts  was  one  of  his 
characteristics;  his  houses  and  rooms  were  filled 
to  their  utmost  capacity  with  the  pictures  which 
he  paid  for  liberally  and  justly,  but  none  of  that 
extravagant  ostentation  in  purchase  prices  which 
has  been  the  wonder  of  latter  days,  had  any 
footing  in  his  well-selected  collection.  In  this 
respect  at  least,  his  discrimination  cannot  be 
impeached. 

The  memorial  of  a  man  like  this  might  well 
be  a  eulogy,  but  it  may  be  also  treated  by  a 
friend,  impartially,  and  in  full  justice,  without 
that  extravagant  praise  which  is  so  usual  on  such 
occasions.  He  was  eminently  social  in  his  feel- 
ings and  habits;  at  the  same  time,  his  principal 
characteristic  was  self-reliance;  his  own  views, 
habits,  and  impulses,  were  those  that  he  followed. 


MEMORIAL.  215 

That  his  views  on  temperance  were  philanthro- 
pic, no  one  can  doubt;  but  like  all  others  hold- 
ing ultra  opinions,  he  found  by  experience  that 
the  laws  of  matter  (by  the  ordination  of  Provi- 
dence for  its  own  wise  purposes)  cannot  be  re- 
sisted, and  that  fermentation  and  its  products 
were  intended  by  the  Supreme  Ruler,  not  for 
the  abuse,  but  for  the  good  of  man. 

His  earnest  endeavors  to  resist  the  fermenta- 
tion of  his  abundant  crop  of  grapes  were  of  no 
avail,  and  the  value  of  the  products  in  medicine, 
suited  to  his  own  case,  was  ultimately  recognized 
and  admitted. 

He  was  not  a  sportsman  in  any  sense  of  the 
word,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  he  never  ap- 
peared better  pleased  than  when  mounted  on  a 
fast  horse,  and  sometimes  an  observant  friend 
might  see,  if  he  looked  sharply,  that  to  let  any 
ambitious  roadster  pass  him  was  not  usual,  if 
possible.  Neither  can  it  be  said  that  he  was  a 
gymnast;  yet  he  habitually  exercised  his  mus- 
cular system  (recognizing  its  importance  in  hy- 
giene), and  contended  with  no  little  fervor  for 
successful  honors  in  that  line ;  this  was  well 
known  to  his  associates  in  the  practice  of  archery. 

His  constitution  was  not  robust;  he  suffered 


21 6  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

much  from  ill  health  at  various  periods  of  his 
life,  the  last  years  of  which  were  years  of  suffer- 
ing, more  or  less,  but  it  never  changed  his  kindly 
feelings  towards  his  friends,  family,  or  the  dumb 
pets  of  his  household ;  especially  did  it  never 
relax  his  energy  in  the  great  and  complex  busi- 
ness of  his  firm,  or  the  more  important  charities 
of  his  heart  and  purse. 

Too  much  praise  cannot  be  bestowed  on  the 
final  disposition  of  his  worldly  affairs ;  he  did 
all  that  he  intended  to  do  in  charity  and  benevo- 
lence during  life,  and  left  to  his  heirs  a  bright 
example  for  their  guidance.  In  this  respect,  so 
different  from  the  ostentatious  wording  of  those 
testamentary  dispositions  that  are  now  wasting 
their  ample  provisions  in  political  jugglery,  or 
turned  aside  by  mismanagement  to  some  other 
object,  perhaps  more  objectionable. 


RESOLUTIONS 


DEATH  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


28 


RESOLUTIONS. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  employees  of  the  Works 
of  M.  W.  Baldwin  and  Co.,  held  September  10, 
1866,  Mr.  James  W.  Blair  was  called  to  the 
chair,  and  Mr.  R.  A.  Peirson  appointed  Secretary. 

On  motion,  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted : — 

WHEREAS,  in  the  dispensation  of  that  Almighty 
Father  who  ordereth  all  things  for  the  best,  one 
from  amongst  us,  our  late  employer  and  friend, 
M.  W.  BALDWIN,  Esq.,  has  been  called  from  the 
scene  of  his  temporal  labor,  and  bidden  an  ever- 
lasting farewell  to  the  cares  and  trials  of  this 
earthly  life,  and  it  is  proper  that  we  should  give 
expression  to  the  feelings  which  so  melancholy 
a  bereavement  is  calculated  to  inspire:  There- 
fore, be  it 

Resolved,  That  in  adverting  to  the  lamentable 
death,  we  cannot  but  bear  in  mind  the  purity 
and  usefulness  of  his  life,  marked  as  it  was  by 


220  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

all  those  virtues  which  make  men  beautiful  here 
below,  that  they  may  be  better  fitted  for  the 
glories  of  the  hereafter. 

Resolved,  That  his  great  character,  as  sincere 
as  it  was  generous,  acted  like  a  charm  upon  all 
who  came  within  its  influence,  and  bound  men 
to  him  in  a  firm  and  lasting  friendship. 

Resolved,  That  in  simplicity  of  purpose,  purity 
of  intention,  integrity  of  action,  and  goodness 
of  heart,  our  employer  was  of  the  noblest  works 
of  God,  an  honest  man;  as  such  we  knew  him 
living,  now  mourn  him  dead. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be 
presented  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and 
likewise  to  the  firm,  and  be  published  in  all  the 
daily  papers. 

Resolved,  That  we  attend  the  funeral  in  a 
body. 

WM.  S.  HOSTER, 
THOS.  BILLINGSFELT, 
WM.  D.  STRATTON, 


PETER  FARNUM, 
ROBT.  CASSADIN, 
ROBT.  ARMSTRONG, 
EDMUND  BURKE, 


Committee. 


RESOLUTIONS.  221 

BALDWIN  LOCOMOTIVE  WORKS, 

Philada.,  Sept.  loth,  1866. 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  foremen  of  these  works, 
held  this  day,  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions were  adopted: — 

WHEREAS,  It  has  pleased  Divine  Providence 
to  remove  from  our  midst  our  friend  and  bene- 
factor, MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN,  Esq. ;  and 

WHEREAS,  While  we  bow  with  submission  to 
the  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  cannot  but 
express  our  deep  sorrow  at  being  thus  severed 
from  one  with  whom  we  have  been  so  long 
connected :  Therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Matthias  W. 
Baldwin,  Esq.,  the  community  has  lost  a  valu- 
able member,  his  family  a  kind  husband  and 
father,  and  we  a  good  friend,  whose  memory 
will  ever  be  cherished  in  our  hearts. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  to  his  family  our 
warmest  sympathies  in  their  affliction,  hoping 
they  may  be  comforted  with  the  assurance  that 
his  reward  will  be, 

"Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 
Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  published 


222  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

in  the  daily  papers,  and  a  copy  transmitted  to 
the  family  of  the  deceased;  and  as  a  further  mark 
of  respect,  we  attend  the  funeral  in  a  body. 

L.  O.  HOWELL,  President. 
WM.  HOBART  BROWN,  Secretary. 


PHILADELPHIA  COUNTY  PRISON, 
Sept.  15,  1866. 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Inspectors  of 
the  Philadelphia  County  Prison,  held  September 
loth,  1866,  the  following  preamble  and  resolu- 
tions were  offered  by  the  Hon.  Joseph  R.  Chan- 
dler and  unanimously  adopted : — 

WHEREAS,  the  members  of  the  Board  of  In- 
spectors of  the  Philadelphia  County  Prison  have 
heard  with  profound  regret  the  annunciation  of 
the  death  of  their  colleague,  MATTHIAS  W. 
BALDWIN,  Esq.,  and  feel  it  due  to  the  sterling 
worth  of  the  deceased,  and  to  the  cause  of  do- 
mestic, social,  and  public  virtue  which  his  whole 
life  so  beautifully  illustrated,  to  make  a  record  of 
their  regard  for  his  character,  their  appreciation 


RESOLUTIONS.  223 

of  his  services  as  an  associate,  and  their  sorrow 
for  his  death. 

In  the  various  relations  in  which  Mr.  Baldwin 
stood  to  society,  he  manifested  those  qualities 
which  attract  attention  and  secure  respect.  His 
eulogists  will  find  abundant  materials  for  ap- 
plause in  the  successful  efforts  with  which  he 
added  to  the  credit  and  wealth  of  the  city,  while 
he  secured  to  himself  the  means  of  that  enlarged 
judicious  liberality  which  connects  his  name 
with  the  highest  acts  and  purest  charities  of 
Philadelphia. 

It  has  been  the  privilege  of  the  members  of 
this  Board  to  share  the  counsels  of  Mr.  Baldwin 
in  the  discharge  of  duties  devolved  upon  them 
by  their  appointment,  and  to  witness  his  quiet, 
persistent  efforts  for  the  good  of  those  whose 
errors  or  crimes  make  them  involuntary  inmates 
of  this  Prison,  and  testimony  cordial  and  earnest 
is  hereby  borne  to  the  unfailing  urbanity,  the 
steady  justice,  and  the  beautiful  humanity  which 
marked  the  course  of  the  deceased  as  a  member 
of  this  Board,  and  which  make  poignant  and 
permanent  the  regret  which  his  death  has  caused. 
It  is  therefore 

Resolved,  That  this  expression  of  deep  regret 


224  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

for  the  death  of  Mr.  Baldwin  and  of  profound 
respect  for  his  memory,  be  entered  at  large  upon 
the  journal  of  the  Board,  and  that  an  attested 
copy  thereof  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased. 

Resolved,  That  this  Board  will  attend  the  fune- 
ral of  their  lately  deceased  member. 


HALL  FRANKLIN  INSTITUTE, 
Philadelphia. 

AT  a  special  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Mana- 
gers of  the  Franklin  Institute,  September  nth, 
1866,  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions 
were  adopted: — 

WHEREAS,  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN,  one  of 
the  earliest  members  of  the  Franklin  Institute, 
has,  after  a  long  and  useful  life,  been  separated 
by  death  from  his  family  and  friends :  and 

WHEREAS,  the  Managers  of  the  Institute,  che- 
rishing a  lively  recollection  of  his  services  as  a 
member,  manager,  and  Vice-President,  for  many 
years ;  and  also  of  the  genius,  skill,  and  industry 


RESOLUTIONS.  225 

which  marked  his  career  as  a  mechanic  and 
manufacturer,  deem  it  right  to  perpetuate  on 
their  records  their  high  estimation  of  his  cha- 
racter and  worth :  therefore — 

Resolved,  That  it  is  with  deep  sorrow  they 
have  heard  of  the  death  of  Mr.  Baldwin,  and 
of  the  severance  of  those  earthly  ties  which  for 
so  many  years  bound  him  to  the  Institute  and 
to  its  members  in  the  cordial  bonds  of  useful- 
ness, personal  friendship,  and  honorable  compe- 
tition in  business,  and  in  the  promotion  of  the 
application  of  science  to  the  useful  arts. 

Resolved,  That  we  sincerely  condole  with  his 
immediate  family  and  friends  in  this  great  be- 
reavement, and  trust  that  the  consoling  remem- 
brances of  his  pure  and  honest  character,  his 
Christian  life  and  useful  example  to  all  men, 
may  calm  their  sense  of  his  loss,  and  lead  them 
to  that  dependence  on  the  source  of  all  good, 
which  so  manifestly  sustained  him  during  his 
earthly  career  and  made  death  the  entrance  to 
eternal  life  and  happiness. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  further  mark  of  our  affec- 
tion and  respect  for  our  deceased  friend  and 
associate,  we  will  in  a  body  attend  his  funeral, 
and  that  the  members  of  the  Institute  be  re- 
29 


226  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

quested  to  join  with  us  in  paying  this  last  tribute 
to  his  memory. 

Resohed,  That  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  pre- 
amble and  resolutions  be  sent  to  the  family  of 
Mr.  Baldwin  by  the  President  of  the  Institute. 


BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES 

OLIVET  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 
Sept.  ijth,  1866. 

HAVING  heard  with  sincere  and  deep  sorrow 
of  the  death  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  and  be- 
ing desirous  at  the  first  meeting  since  that  event 
of  expressing  our  sense  of  the  bereavement : 
therefore 

Resohedy  First,  That  in  view  of  the  character 
of  the  deceased,  whose  works  testified  to  his 
faith  in  the  great  Redeemer,  and  his  love  for 
His  cause,  we  find  no  ground  of  sorrow  on  his 
own  account  for  his  removal  from  the  earth. 

Second,  That  in  view  of  his  pure  morals,  his 
expanded  principles,  his  warm  patriotism,  his 
impartial  benevolence,  his  large  benefactions, 
and  exemplary  Christian  life,  we  express  our 


RESOLUTIONS.  227 

sense  of  the  public  loss  and  of  the  bereavement 
sustained  by  the  Christian  Church,  especially  by 
that  denomination  of  which  Mr.  Baldwin  was  a 
member  and  ruling  elder. 

Third,  That  we  claim  the  privilege  of  joining 
in  the  public  expression  of  grief  by  reason  of 
our  large  share  in  his  Christian  liberality,  both 
when  the  church  was  first  organized  and  in  the 
late  attempts  to  enlarge  her  accommodations  for 
worship.  His  liberal  donation  has  enabled  us 
to  erect  a  House  of  God  commodious  and  con- 
venient, which  we  doubt  not  will  remain  for 
generations  to  come  a  place  for  receiving  saving 
spiritual  good,  and  this  record  is  intended  to 
keep  alive  in  the  hearts  of  our  people  a  grateful 
remembrance  of  him  who  has  now  been  called 
to  the  "better  country." 

Fourth,  That  we  hereby  express  our  lively 
sympathy  with  the  bereaved  family,  acknow- 
ledging at  the  same  time  that  our  warmest  ex- 
pressions are  a  small  alleviation  for  the  loss  of 
one  so  kind,  so  good,  so  provident,  and  so  closely 
endeared;  whose  loss  in  the  family  circle  must 
be  irreparable,  except  as  God  shall  make  it 
good. 


228  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


AT  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  Ministerial  Relief  Fund,  held  in  the 
Presbyterian  House,  Sept.  18,  1866,  the  follow- 
ing paper  was  unanimously  adopted : — 

"WHEREAS,  it  pleased  the  Lord,  on  the  yth 
of  September,  1866,  to  remove  from  us  by  death, 
Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  Esq.,  of  Philadelphia: 

"AND  WHEREAS,  Mr.  Baldwin,  from  the  first, 
was.  a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  Ministerial  Relief  Fund:  therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  while  we  bow  with  Christian 
submission  to  this  sad  dispensation,  we  would 
record  our  high  appreciation  of  Mr.  Baldwin  as 
one  of  the  most  excellent  among  men,  and  a 
bright  example  in  every  department  of  useful- 
ness. We  also  deplore  the  heavy  loss  which  has 
befallen  us  in  his  removal  from  our  earthly  asso- 
ciations, to  enter  the  everlasting  rest  which  God 
prepared  for  him  in  heaven." 


RESOLUTIONS.  229 

PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  19,  1866. 

AT  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Horticultural  Society,  held  last  evening,  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  offered  by  Mr.  Caleb  Cope, 
were  unanimously  adopted: — 

Resohed,  That  this  Society  records  with  the 
profoundest  sorrow  the  death  of  one  of  its  Vice- 
Presidents,  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  who  for  many 
years  was  a  most  attentive  and  useful  member  of 
this  institution,  and  during  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  time  its  able,  courteous,  and  dignified 
presiding  officer. 

Resohed,  That  this  Society  will  ever  bear  in 
grateful  remembrance  the  valuable  services  ren- 
dered to  it,  and  through  it  to  the  public,  by 
reason  of  the  many  interesting  contributions  fur- 
nished by  Mr.  Baldwin  from  his  extensive  con- 
servatories on  the  Delaware,  the  more  especially 
for  his  liberal  subscription  to  the  Building  fund, 
without  which  the  present  effort  to  erect  a  Hall 
for  the  uses  of  the  Society  would  not  be  made. 

Resohed,  That  whilst  this  Society  deeply 
mourns  over  its  own  bereavement,  it  deplores 
also  the  loss  which  many  other  institutions, 
churches,  and  individuals  experience  in  the  death 
of  so  estimable  a  citizen,  who  illustrated  a  long 


230  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

life  by  the  most  munificent  gifts,  noble  enter- 
prises, and  the  observance  of  a  uniform,  urbane, 
and  truly  Christian  deportment. 

Resolved,  That  whilst  no  words  can  adequately 
express,  and  no  acts  sufficiently  indicate  the  fra- 
ternal attachment  of  the  surviving  members  of 
this  Society  to  their  departed  and  lamented 
friend,  they  will  take  early  measures  to  procure 
a  portrait  of  him,  that  it  may  adorn  those  walls 
he  had  so  materially  aided  to  erect,  trusting  that 
each  spectator  who  may  be  favored  to  look  upon 
it  in  future  years,  may  alike  revere  the  memory 
of  the  original,  and  endeavor  to  imitate  his 
bright  example. 

Resolved,  That  the  pervading  sadness  visible 
in  the  countenances  of  those  assembled  in  this 
Hall  to-night,  notwithstanding  there  is  much 
in  the  collected  beautiful  productions  of  nature 
otherwise  calculated  to  gladden  and  cheer,  shows 
how  universal  is  the  regret  among  those  who 
have  for  so  many  years  witnessed  the  splendid 
specimens  of  Horticulture  which  Mr.  Baldwin 
has  so  generously  exposed  to  public  view  at  the 
meetings  of  the  Society,  and  also  in  his  elegant 
conservatory  on  Chestnut  Street,  which  was 
erected  and  supplied  for  the  benefit  of  that 
public  exclusively. 


RESOLUTIONS.  231 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  proceedings, 
signed  by  the  President  and  Secretary,  be  pre- 
sented to  the  immediate  family  of  the  deceased, 
accompanied  by  the  assurance  that  this  Society 
most  deeply  sympathizes  with  the  members 
thereof  in  the  great  calamity  that  has  befallen 
them. 


PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  25,  1866. 
THE  Board  of  Directors  of  Horticultural  Hall 
have  heard  with  the  profoundest  sorrow  of  the 
decease  of  their  late  colleague  and  friend,  Mat- 
thias W.  Baldwin,  and  have  directed  me  to  pre- 
sent to  the  family  of  the  departed  the  assurance 
of  their  high  esteem   for   him   as  a  man,  as  a 
public  benefactor,  as  a  truly  Christian  gentle- 
man, whom  all  honored  and  all  mourned. 
When  a  good  man  dies,  all  men  grieve. 
With  high  respect, 

A.  W.  HARRISON,  Rec.  Sec'ry. 

To  the  family  of  the  late  M.  W.  BALDWIN. 


232  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

PENNSYLVANIA  ACADEMY  OF  THE  FINE  ARTS, 
PHILADELPHIA,  October  ist,  1866. 

AT  a  stated  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers, 
held  this  day,  the  following  preamble  and  reso- 
lutions were  presented  by  Franklin  Peale: — 

WHEREAS  :  In  assembling  on  this  occasion, 
we  are  made  conscious  of  the  vacancy  in  this 
body  by  the  decease  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin, 
so  long  a  member  of  it ;  whose  presence  has 
always  been  recognized  as  an  able  and  reliable 
aid  in  the  affairs  of  the  institution;  and  his  de- 
parture as  a  loss  of  no  ordinary  character. 

He  became  a  member  of  the  Board  at  the 
annual  election  of  1852,  and  served  on  various 
Committees,  particularly  that  of  Finance,  in 
which  capacity  he  rendered  efficient  services 
until  his  decease,  which  took  place  at  Wissino- 
ming,  his  suburban  residence,  on  the  yth  of 
September,  1866,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his 
age. 

We  therefore  deem  it  our  duty  to  place  on 
the  records  of  the  Academy  a  brief  but  expres- 
sive notice  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was 
held  as  one  of  its  managers,  together  with  our 
consideration  of  him  as  a  member  of  the  com- 


RESOLUTIONS.  233 

munity  at  large ;  a  patron  of  the  Fine  Arts,  and 
a  liberal  and  just  man. 

Be  it  therefore  Resolved,  That  the  Board  accept 
these  remarks  as  a  deserved  tribute  to  his  mem- 
ory, and  a  just  though  faint  expression  of  the 
esteem  in  which  he  was  held  as  their  associate 
and  fellow-citizen. 

Be  it  further  Resolved,  That  this  preamble  and 
resolutions  be  inserted  on  the  Minutes  of  the 
Academy  as  a  permanent  record  of  our  senti- 
ments, and  that  a  copy  of  them,  signed  by  the 
President  and  Secretary,  be  transmitted  to  the 
family  of  our  late  associate,  in  evidence  of  our 
sympathy  on  this  melancholy  occasion. 


RESOLUTIONS  adopted  by  the  Calvary  Church 
Session,  at  their  first  meeting  after  Mr.  Bald- 
win's decease,  held  October  17,  1866. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  our  late  beloved 
brother  and  highly  esteemed  elder,  Matthias  W. 
Baldwin,  we  feel  that  we  have  met  with  a  loss 
which  seems  irreparable,  and  which  fills  us  with 
the  deepest  sorrow. 
3° 


234  LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 

That,  while  we  reverently  submit  to  the  will 
of  God  in  this  afflictive  event,  we  desire  to  re- 
cord our  sense  of  the  high  value  of  his  counsels, 
example,  and  influence  as  a  member  of  this  ses- 
sion, and  of  this  church  since  its  organization; 
and  also  to  express  our  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
deeds  of  beneficence  and  piety  which  have  dis- 
tinguished our  brother  in  this  city  and  almost 
throughout  Christendom. 

Resolved,  That  we  hereby  tender  to  the  be- 
reaved, and  sorrowing  family  of  our  lamented 
brother  our  Christian  sympathy  and  our  sincere 
condolence,  and  also  assure  them  that  our  earnest 
prayer  is,  that  the  wisdom  and  grace  which 
guided  him  in  life,  and  the  faith  and  hope 
which  sustained  him  in  death,  may  be  their  all- 
sufficient  support  and  comfort  in  this  day  of 
grief  and  affliction. 

That  the  Clerk  be  requested  to  send  a  copy 
of  these  resolutions  to  Mrs.  Baldwin. 


CALVARY  CHURCH  SUNDAY  SCHOOL, 

PHILADELPHIA,  December  3^,  1866. 
WHEREAS,  The  Almighty  Disposer  of  events, 
who  giveth  life  and  taketh  it  away  as  seemeth 


RESOLUTIONS.  235 

to  Him  good,  has  removed  from  among  us  Mr. 
Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  who  has  presided  over 
the  interests  of  our  Sunday  School  as  Superin- 
tendent from  its  organization  until  his  death : 

Resolved,  That  we,  the  officers  and  teachers  of 
the  Sunday  School  he  loved,  recognize  and  en- 
deavor to  bow  submissively  to  the  Providence 
which  has  thus  afflicted  us,  feeling  confident 
that  one  who  labored  so  earnestly  in  The  Mas- 
ter's cause  has  not  failed  to  find  that  "to  be  with 
Christ  is  far  better"  than  even  the  joy  of  doing 
good  on  the  earth. 

Resolved,  That  we  will  always  cherish  the 
memory  of  our  late  Superintendent  as  one  who 
in  childlike  simplicity  and  earnest  faith,  with  an 
ever  constant  sense  of  the  presence  of  God,  and 
of  his  dependence  on  Him,  endeavored  to  be  a 
faithful  steward  of  the  Lord's  bounties,  and  to 
exemplify  in  his  daily  walk  and  conversation 
the  spirit  of  our  holy  religion. 

Resolved,  That  though  our  school  and  the 
church  of  which  we  form  a  part  have  suffered 
a  loss  which  seems  to  us  irreparable  in  the  re- 
moval of  Mr.  Baldwin,  we  remember  the  blow 
has  fallen  more  heavily  upon  those  who  mourn 
a  husband  and  a  father  dead,  and  we  desire  to 


236 


LIFE  OF  MATTHIAS  W.  BALDWIN. 


express  our  heartfelt  sympathy  with  them,  and 
give  utterance  to  the  prayer  that  his  God  may 
be  their  support  and  consolation  in  this  their 
great  sorrow. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  entered 
upon  the  Minutes  of  the  Association,  and  that  a 
copy  of  the  same  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the 
deceased. 


B.  Kendall, 
Jno.  R.  Neff, 
Samuel  Mercer, 
S.  W.  Colton,  Jr., 

D.  C.  McCammon, 
Jno.  H.  Williams, 
S.  Henry  Norris, 
John  A.  Lewis, 
Henry  N.  Paul, 
Wm.  B.  Leidy, 

M.  L.  Frederick, 
Robert  N.  Willson, 
A.  McElroy, 
John  H.  Atwood, 
Charles  Stewart  Wurts, 
Emily  E.  Strong, 

E.  A.  White, 


M.  K.  Nassau, 
J.  S.  Erskine, 
Kate  B.  Patton, 
Mary  E.  Ashman, 
Clara  Redfield, 
Eliza  Cornwall, 
Lizzie  S.  Dale, 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Groves, 
A.  M.  Strong, 
Anna  C.  McElroy, 
Elizabeth  E.  Frost, 
Emily  Judson, 
M.  H.  Frederick, 
Mary  S.  Otto, 
Sarah  Scattergood, 
H.  M.  Wurts. 


RESOLUTIONS.  237 

AT  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Presby- 
terian House,  held  in  the  House  Wednesday, 
December  5th,  A.  D.  1866 — 

"The  death  of  Matthias  W.  Baldwin,  Esquire, 
a  Trustee  of  the  House,  was  announced;  where- 
upon, it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  record,  with 
profound  sorrow,  their  sense  of  the  loss  thus 
sustained,  to  themselves,  to  the  denomination, 
and  to  the  church  at  large.  They  deplore  the 
removal  from  themselves  of  a  genial  and  gene- 
rous co-laborer;  from  the  denomination,  of  a 
faithful  and  honored  elder;  from  the  church  at 
large,  of  a  Christian  whose  liberality  to  all  good 
enterprises  was  as  princely  as  his  piety  was  sim- 
ple and  sincere.  They  recognize,  in  the  death 
of  their  late  associate,  the  monitory  exhortation 
'to  do  with  their  might  what  their  hands  find 
to  do.'" 


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